Purdue Today presenting profiles on Title IX service awardees
May 30, 2013
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Title IX, Purdue has recognized 40 individuals with the Title IX Distinguished Service Award for their significant contributions to the advancement of gender equity in education. Profiles on the recipients will be presented in Purdue Today each month. This month features Leah Jamieson, Amy Ruley, Dorothy Stratton, Emily Wadsworth and Toyinda Wilson-Long.
Leah Jamieson
Leah Jamieson's efforts in engineering have advanced and encouraged women at Purdue, and across the country.
Jamieson, the John A. Edwardson Dean of Engineering at Purdue, has worked locally and nationally to address gender equity in the classroom and workplace.
From 1997 to 2000, Jamieson served as the co-chair of the Computing Research Association's Committee on the Status of Women in Computer Research, and she has continued to be active in the committee's workshops and mentoring programs. In 1996, she was one of 18 women profiled in the committee's career booklet, "Women in Computer Science." The booklet was distributed to U.S. high schools and serves as encouragement for women interested in careers in computing.
Working with Purdue Women in Engineering, Women in Science and the Division of Theatre, Jamieson facilitated and moderated the 1997 pilot Classroom Climate Workshops on Gender Equity series for faculty of engineering and science schools. Funded by the Sloan Foundation, the series, which addressed the challenges of creating a learning environment that is friendly for students of both genders. It was recorded and produced on video as a guide for gender equity workshops at other institutions.
Additionally, Jamieson served on the 2008 steering committee for the National Academy of Engineering report "Changing the Conversation: Developing Effective Messages for Improving Public Understanding of Engineering." The report and research has led to strong developments in science, technology, engineering and math initiatives, especially for women.
Jamieson's work has been celebrated through a number of awards, including the 2000 Harriet B. Rigas Outstanding Women Engineering Educator award, the 2002 Indiana Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation, and the National Academy of Engineering’s Gordon Prize for Innovation in Engineering Education for her work as a co-founder of the EPICS program. In 2007 she was honored with the Anita Borg Institute's Women of Vision Award for Social Impact. Jamieson currently serves as chair of the board of trustees for the institute.
At Purdue, Jamieson received the 1999 Helen B. Schleman Gold Medallion for her "outstanding contribution and concern for women students, encouragement of women in academic and professional areas, leadership and service within and outside the university, and scholarship and character." She was one of 15 women in the inaugural class of Women Pioneers of Purdue University, formed by the Purdue University Council on the Status of Women in 2006. Additionally, she is the founding chair of the Women Faculty in Engineering Committee at Purdue.
Amy Ruley
Amy Ruley is a permanent fixture in Purdue women's basketball history, scoring the team's first basket in 1975.
Hailing from Lowell, Ind., Ruley felt the inequalities between men and women's sports in high school. The Indiana High School Athletic Association did not sanction girls' basketball until after her graduation. Though her team excelled at the highest district level, Ruley was unable to compete at the state level.
Ruley came to Purdue in 1975 and was the starting point guard on the inaugural women's basketball team, scoring the first basket in a game against Ohio State University with a steal and a layup.
Inequality between men and women was still present during Ruley's time at Purdue -- women's sports were not supported by scholarships and practices were limited to Lambert Fieldhouse and the recreational sports center. As a freshman, Ruley joined the team in a peaceful sit-in at Purdue Central Administration to urge the athletic department to provide equal treatment for women's teams.
Upon graduating from Purdue, Ruley earned her master's degree from Western Illinois University in 1979 and began coaching women's basketball at North Dakota State University, where she remained until 2008. During her coaching career, she led the team to five NCAA Division II national championships and 20 appearances in the national playoffs.
Ruley worked to improve women's basketball at the national level, serving as the secretary of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association board of directors from 1995 to 1999. She has been honored with numerous awards, including the 1997 WBCA Carol Eckman Award and the first C. Vivian Stringer Coaching Award in 2001 by the United States Sports Academy. In 2004, Ruley was inducted into the Purdue Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame and the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.
Ruley currently serves as an associate athletic director for development at North Dakota State University.
Dorothy Stratton
Dorothy Stratton's career is a legacy of efforts for women's equality at Purdue and in the military.
As Purdue's first full-time dean of women in 1933 and an associate professor of psychology, Stratton created new learning and career opportunities for women. During her Purdue career, Stratton helped to increase women's enrollment from 500 to more than 1,400 and saw the construction of three residence halls for women.
At the same time, Stratton saw the creation of an employment placement center for women as well as a women's liberal science program within Purdue's School of Science. Additionally, she worked to establish the Housemother's Training School to better prepare fraternity and sorority housemothers for their positions.
In 1942, the U.S. Navy commissioned Stratton as a senior lieutenant in the Women's Reserve. She was later the first woman to be accepted to serve in the Women's Reserve of the Coast Guard, and became the program's first director in 1942. Stratton climbed the ranks within the Coast Guard and was named captain in February 1944. For her military service, Stratton won the Legion of Women Merit Medal, which honored her work to advance women in the military.
In 1950, Stratton became the executive director for the Girl Scouts of America, before retiring 10 years later.
Stratton is honored with several awards in her name. The Coast Guard Women's Leadership Association presents female Coast Guard officers who have demonstrated leadership and mentorship with the Captain Dorothy Stratton Leadership Award, and the Purdue Naval ROTC presents the Dorothy Stratton Scholarship for Women to a student demonstrating scholarship, leadership and service. Additionally, the Coast Guard named its third National Security Cutter WMSL-752 in her honor in 2008.
Dorothy Stratton died in 2006 at the age of 107. She receives the Title IX Distinguished Service Award posthumously.
Emily Wadsworth
Emily Wadsworth's efforts in mentoring have improved the Purdue experience for women in engineering and across campus.
Wadsworth served as assistant director of the Women in Engineering Program from 1991 to 1998. During that time, Wadsworth developed the program's mentoring programs for graduate and undergraduate women in engineering. Through the program, women pursuing degrees in engineering could meet, form a community and learn from each other's experiences.
In 1997, the Women in Engineering Program received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring. Wadsworth's experiences creating and directing the program's mentoring efforts are chronicled in her 2002 book, "Giving Much/Gaining More."
In 1995, Wadsworth developed the Purdue Classroom Climate Workshops, a series of "gender friendly" seminars that used an interactive theater presentation to discuss scenarios of gender equity. The workshops were developed as part of Wadsworth's work to improve retention of women pursuing engineering degrees. She later presented on the workshops at the 1998 Women in Engineering Programs and Advocates Network national conference.
Wadsworth was honored for her efforts to recruit and retain women in engineering with the 1998 American Society for Engineering Education's Minorities in Engineering Award. In 1999, she was named an honorary member of Purdue's chapter of Mortar Board.
Continuing her efforts to improve the experiences of Purdue women, Wadsworth contributed to the creation of the Purduettes' Mentor Program, which pairs community leaders as mentors to women in the choral group. Mentors serve as role models for the women and provide opportunities to lead and contribute to Purdue's community.
Wadsworth and her husband sponsor the Emily M. Wadsworth Graduate Mentoring Awards, which are $1,000 scholarships for one graduate student and one undergraduate student in engineering at Purdue who have been exceptional mentors for others.
Wadsworth retired from Purdue in 1998.
Toyinda Wilson-Long
Toyinda Wilson-Long's efforts to improve the Purdue experience for women can be seen in both athletics and academics.
During her undergraduate career at Purdue, Wilson-Long competed on the women's track team in the hammer and discus, winning the 1999 NCAA Indoor Championship for the 20-pound throw. Additionally, she was a two-time All-American, five-time Big Ten champion and two-time team Most Valuable Player.
After competing with the Indiana Invaders indoor track team, Wilson-Long returned to Purdue as a volunteer assistant coach from 2001 to 2004. At the same time, she served as the residential life manager for Windsor Halls, one of Purdue's female residence halls, until 2003. Her position led her to improve the Purdue experience for more than 700 women annually by providing educational, professional and social development opportunities.
From 2008 to 2010, Wilson-Long served as assistant director of the Science Diversity Office, where she oversaw the undergraduate Women in Science Mentoring Program. Wilson-Long managed the first- and second-year learning communities for the program, serving as a mentor and role model for young women pursuing careers in science.
Wilson-Long also served as mentor during her participation in University Residences' Faculty Fellow Program, which promotes a personalized experience for students by connecting them with faculty and staff on an informal basis outside the classroom and office. Wilson-Long provided educational presentations, mentoring and guidance while serving as a fellow for the Women in Science first-year learning community in 2008 and for a nursing learning community in one of the women's residence halls in 2009.
Currently, Wilson-Long serves as the supervisor of operations for the Purdue men's and women's track and field and cross-country teams -- a role that provides Wilson-Long with the opportunity to counsel, mentor and motivate young women to excel with distinction.
She is also an active member of the National Association of College Women Athletics Administrators, which advocates for increased athletic and administrative opportunities for women and promotes progressive and positive attitudes toward women in sports. Wilson-Long has served on the association's 2013 National Convention Advisory Team and its 2012 awards committee, which honors the achievements of women working in athletics.
An alumna of Purdue's chapter of the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Wilson-Long now assists the sorority as the campus advisor and alumnae graduate advisor. From 2002 to 2004, she was given the Purdue National Pan-Hellenic Council's Advisor of the Year award.
Wilson-Long was inducted into the Purdue Athletic Hall of Fame in 2012, and the Indiana Track and Cross Country Hall of Fame in 2006.
* Profiles on Laura Reasoner Jones, Dorothy Leland, Joan Marshall, Robert Ringel and Carolyn Peck
* Profiles on Zenephia Evans, Mary Harrison Ford, Monica Gary, LaNelle Geddes and Eva Goble
* Profiles on Nancy Cross, Jane Zimmer Daniels, Carol Dewey, Carol Ecker and Barbara Edmondson
* Profiles on Evelyn Blackwood, Roger Blalock, Beth Brooke, Morgan Burke and Susan Bulkeley Butler
