Women of Achievement Award

Presented by the Commission for Women

Women of Achievement Awards honor faculty, staff, and students who improve the status of women on campus.

The faculty honoree is mae quinn, associate professor of law. She joined the law school after practicing for six years as a New York City public defender. Her research focuses on women’s legal history, specifically Judge Anna Moscowitz Kross, a central figure in the controversy over specialized courts focusing on women’s issues. In addition to Quinn’s research, her accomplishments as a clinical law professor, her participation in the UT Association of Women’s Faculty and her service leading a group of students to provide legal assistance to hurricane-ravaged New Orleans make her worthy of the Women of Achievement Award.

This year’s staff recipient is katherine warden, assistant dean in the Office of the University Registrar. She has worked diligently and effectively to support the improved status of women staff and students at the university. Through the UT Evening School, she has helped many female re-entry students by providing special scholarships, support and individual advising. She also has given her time to the Commission for Women, the Undergraduate and Graduate Councils, and the Academic Calendar Committee, as well as chairing the Exempt Staff Council. Her nominating letter states: “Her skilled problem-solving and quiet, effective support for staff and students make her most deserving of this award.”

The graduate student award winner is Jill shotzberger, a third-year law student, who inspires public service by example. For the past two years, she has served as managing editor of the Baker Journal of Applied Public Policy. Last year, she was the president of the Law Women organization and led the group’s charge to raise funds for the YWCA’s Victims Advocacy Program and an annual clothing drive for the Y’s transitional housing program.

 

The undergraduate student award winner is FELICIA GILLILAND, whose “Volunteer spirit” makes her worthy of this award. Working with Minority Enhancement, she has played an important role in talking with minority women and recruiting them to come to UT. As a First Year Studies Peer Mentor and a resident assistant, she places students at ease and makes them feel like valued members of the university community. She does all this while pursuing a challenging curriculum in the sciences, working on two minors and serving as an active member in several honor societies.