October 18, 2004
Three Purdue women receive 'leading light' awards
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Three women from Purdue University have been honored with 2004 Leading Light Awards from Women & Hi Tech, an organization that recognizes professional women in Indiana.
The organization issued nine Leading Light Awards in September. The Purdue award winners were Linda P.B. Katehi, the John A. Edwardson Dean of Engineering; Julie Conlon, outreach coordinator in the Department of Physics; and computer science doctoral student Yuni Xia.
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Katehi was honored for being a "distinguished individual dedicated to the mentoring and growth of women in science or technology," said Jennifer Kurtz, president of Women & Hi Tech and manager of strategic relations and communications at Purdue's Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security.
"In her interview with us, Dean Katehi stressed the importance of team member diversity when defining problems and seeking creative solutions," Kurtz said. "We believe that women can help drive the global innovation economy by participating as creators, not just consumers, of technology. Our mission is to engage, educate, and energize women in the pursuit of technology-related studies and careers."
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Conlon has been credited with developing several innovative educational physics-related programs involving teachers, high school students and their parents. Xia is specializing in research on database systems that will be used in advanced wireless communications technologies. Her research is important for systems that pinpoint the geographical location of individuals in such applications as battlefield monitoring, locating lost or stolen objects, tracking young children and helping the visually challenged navigate their environments.
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Women & Hi Tech was formed as a non-profit organization in July 2000.
The graduate student award, which carries a $1,000 scholarship, was sponsored by Ice Miller. Sponsors of the other awards and a dinner and reception to honor the winners included Barnes & Thornburg, BitWise Solutions Inc., ExactTarget, Payton LLC, Grow Indiana Media Ventures, Ball State, Indiana University, Indiana Health and Hospital Association, IU School of Informatics, IUPUI, Eli Lilly and Co., Gazelle Ventures, Indiana Venture Center, Oak Street Mortgage, and Ontario Systems.
Writer: Emil Venere, (765) 494-4709, venere@purdue.edu
Source: Jennifer Kurtz, (765) 494-7806, (317) 372-2658 (cell), jkurtz@cerias.purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
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