The Margaret P. Benson Memorial Scholarship

Created by a designated bequest to the University of Iowa Foundation, the Margaret P. Benson Memorial Scholarship recognizes qualified female applicants who demonstrate financial need and are committed to women’s issues, diversity, and social activism. One or two awards are available each year. The scholarship is administered and recipients selected by the Women’s Resource and Action Center at the University of Iowa.

The Wynonna G. Hubbard Scholarship

This scholarship was established by Dr. Philip G. Hubbard, University of Iowa Vice President Emeritus, in memory of his wife. The award is given to an African-American woman with a grade-point average of 3.0 or above who demonstrates an unusual interest in the well-being of others and has financial need.

The Jane A. Weiss Memorial Dissertation Scholarship

Jane A. Weiss was an assistant professor of women’s studies and sociology at the University of Iowa at the time of her death in 1981. As a faculty member, she made a generous contribution to the study of women’s issues. In her memory, her friends, colleagues, and family established a scholarship fund. Each year an award is made to doctoral student whose dissertation promises to expand our understanding of important women’s issues.

The Adah Johnson/ Otilia Marie Fernandez Women’s Studies Scholarship

This fellowship is named in honor of two Iowa graduates who are among the first African-American and Latina women to be found in University records. Begun in 1993, award is given alternate years to an under-graduate or a graduate student involved in Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies.

The Kristin K. Lippke Memorial Scholarship

Kris Lippke grew up in Iowa and was a week away from graduating from the University of Iowa with a major in Psychology and a minor in Women’s Studies, when a serious car accident changed the course of her life. After her death in 2012, her family established a scholarship fund dedicated to her memory. Lippke Scholarships are awarded to Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies majors who demonstrate academic promise and financial need.

The Adele Kimm Scholarship

From 1992-2022, a bequest from Adele Kimm, in memory of her brother S. Conrad Kimm and his wife Hilda, made it possible for Gender Women’s and Sexuality Studies Department to award the Adel Kimm Scholarship to a deserving women’s studies student.

The Jean Y. Women’s Rights Award

Jean Y. Jew was a professor of anatomy at the University of Iowa. For more than a decade, Professor Jew fought an uphill battle to defend herself against slander and sexual harassment from faculty in her department, a struggle which she ultimately won. Her perseverance and commitment in the face of injustice have led to the establishment of an award in her honor. The award, given annually by the Council on the Status of Women and the Women’s Resource and Action Center, honors a faculty, staff, or student member of the University community who has demonstrated outstanding effort or achievement in improving the status of women at the University.

May Brodbeck Distinguished Achievement Award for Faculty

May Brodbeck (1917-1983) served as vice president for academic affairs and dean of faculty at the University of Iowa from 1974 to 1981. Brodbeck earned a doctorate in philosophy from Iowa in 1947 and taught at the University of Minnesota from 1947-1972. She gained an international reputation as a scholar in philosophy, known particularly for her work in the philosophy of science. As Iowa’s vice president for academic affairs, Brodbeck provided inspirational and effective leadership in a period of enormous faculty growth and intellectual ferment. She expanded the program of faculty developmental leave, placed the Women’s Studies program on a firm footing, and in general, improved the place of women in the academic world by example, by encouragement, and by administrative achievement. The May Brodbeck Award honors faculty who have made outstanding contributions to their fields and serve as role models and mentors for girls and women.

Susan C. Buckley Distinguished Achievement Award for Staff

Sue Buckley served the University of Iowa for nearly 40 years, retiring as Vice President for Human Resources in 2015. She contributed to many parts of the University, including the Action Studies Program and Women’s Athletics. She was Director of the Women’s Resource and Action Center (1983-89) during a time of considerable growth, including working closely with the Women Against Racism Committee which held several national and regional conferences that profoundly affected the discourse on race in our community and beyond. She left WRAC to serve as founding director of the Pre-Vocational Training Program, which offered services to help women enter the trades and other non-traditional occupations in order to achieve economic self-sufficiency. In 1993 she was named the first recipient of the Jean Y. Jew Women’s Rights Award, and began working in University Human Resources in 1995. Through all these roles, she left a legacy of expanded rights and enhanced work satisfaction for countless University of Iowa staff members. The Susan C. Buckley Award honors staff who have made outstanding contributions to their fields and serve as role models and mentors for girls and women.

The Distinguished Achievement Award

The Committee for the Celebration of Excellence and Achievement Among Women established this award in 1994 to honor staff and faculty who have made outstanding contributions to their fields and serve as role models and mentors for girls and women. In 2015, the Distinguished Achievement Award for Faculty was renamed in honor of May Brodbeck. In 2016 the Distinguished Achievement Award for Staff was renamed to honor Susan C. Buckley.

The Kathrine Orne Memorial Scholarship

The scholarship was awarded between 1981-1987 to a doctoral student whose research was in the area of women’s studies. The Kathrine Orne Memorial Scholarship and the Jane A. Weiss Memorial Scholarship were the first awards given during the annual Celebration of Academic Excellence Among Women, which was renamed the Celebration of Excellence and Achievement Among Women in the early 1990’s.

The Distinguished Leadership Award

In 2008, the University of Iowa faced a potentially catastrophic 500-year flood. For the University to survive, this extraordinary event required an extraordinary response. In recognition of this fact, the Committee for the Celebration of Excellence and Achievement Among Women chose to bestow the Distinguished Leadership Award.