Impact Awards honor those who have made their mark on Rice

Impact
Awards honor those who have made their mark on Rice

Rice students,
faculty and staff have always given of themselves for the
betterment of the univeristy community. Since 1997, the
Women’s Resource Center has recognized such people
with the Impact Awards.

The awards are
given annually to men and women at Rice who demonstrate
service to the campus and community, show involvement and
participation in student life and activities at Rice and
beyond, work to make a positive impact by raising awareness
of women’s issues and serve as role models in the empowerment
of women.

At an April 13
ceremony, the resource center honored this year’s recipients,
whose names and excerpts from their nominations follow:

Faculty Impact
Award Winner
• Ashley Leeds, associate professor of political science
Leeds was described as “particularly impressive in
her commitment to the advancement of women in the profession,
the university and the community more generally. She is
the organizer of a small number of women in the International
relations field who now serve as mentors to graduate students
and junior faculty entering the subfield.”

Staff Impact
Award Winners
• Ken Nipe, Rice Police Department
“His most important contribution to the university
and to women’s issues has been his active and continuing
involvement in the Rape Aggression Defense Program. As one
of the founding fathers of the program, he has shared a
part in the instruction of more than 1,000 women of Rice
in this vital program. Even though he is a male in a program
for females, I know of no one, male or female, who is a
more passionate advocate for the empowerment of women.”

• Nancy
Elliott, department coordinator for Facilities and Engineering
and resident associate at Hanszen College
“As a resident associate at Hanszen, Nancy regularly
counsels students — gay and straight — about the
finding and maintaining of boundaries. Nancy says that if
there is one message she wants the students she works with
to hear, it is that we as actors in this world almost always
have a choice about how we allow others to treat us. Nancy
is a loving presence and a good friend to our young men
and women. She has more compassion and empathy in her soul
than anyone.”

Graduate Student
Impact Award Winners
• Alison Henning, Department of Earth Science
“Alison is a participating member in a group of women
scientists who have recently met to discuss the issues of
young women in the sciences. Many of these issues are brought
to the front as Alison is a young mother and a successful
scientist. She is involved in numerous educational and earth
science outreach activities, such as acting as host for
a group of Elsik High School students and a coordinator
of the Girl Scout Science Day hosted annually at Rice.”

• Eden King,
Department of Psychology
“Her dedication to the graduate student community and
to women’s issues is beyond compare. The majority of
her studies focus on women’s issues. From female leadership
in organizations to work-family balance programs in the
workplace, Eden feels a true calling toward conducting research
concerning the empowerment of women. Additionally, she is
truly selfless in sharing her knowledge of these issues
with younger female undergraduate students, as she has personally
mentored many young women as they are conducting research
and honors theses in this area.”

• Tammy
Smithers, Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management
“She successfully organized a conference on women in
leadership. The conference not only attracted over 200 registered
participants (from Rice as well as the community ‘beyond
the hedges’), but also raised enough money to generate
endowed scholarships for future women leaders. It was a
truly phenomenal achievement that not only provided immediate
benefits to those who participated, but will continue to
affect women into the future as the scholarships continue
in perpetuity.”

Undergraduate
Student Impact Award Winners
• Gaia Muallem, Hanszen College
“She is passionate about bettering the lives of men
and women through her dedication to the importance of sexual-health
awareness. Gaia was the leader of a group from her Leadership
Rice class that decided to design a program to bring sexual-health
awareness and education to the Rice campus. Perhaps the
most important and lasting contribution from this group
is a Web site [www.ruf.rice.edu/~lrsex/index.html]
permanently linked to the Rice homepage that is written
by and for students that covers all areas of sexuality.
The Web page services all students, regardless of sex, gender,
sexual orientation or level of sexual activity. Though the
project was implemented by the group, Gaia was the leader,
inspiring her fellow teammates to become passionate about
sexual health. As a result, her passion has inspired others
to ensure safety and educate others.”

• Monica
Vela, Will Rice College
“Monica’s involvement in the (Wharton and Rice
Mentoring) program has spanned her four years at Rice University
and she has watched the children in her program grow up.
She has been with them though developmental milestones and
has been able to show countless other students how to combine
the roles of friend, protector and teacher.”

• Mary Slater,
Jones College
“Mary serves as a role model for the empowerment of
women like few other young women can. Mary has the ability
to let you know you are flat-out wrong and yet leave you
feeling like you are incredibly blessed. She is simply a
natural and highly effective leader. With her intelligence,
levelheadedness, grace, charm and spiritual base, she could
be just what we need to rescue a generation of our at-risk
youth.”

• Laura
Nally, Lovett College
“Laura has an enormous heart and a sense of purpose
that is completely unclouded by ego. In every one of her
activities … she has always been humble, self-effacing,
matter-of-fact, a volunteer in the truest sense. Laura is
both a dedicated member of Students Organized Against Rape
and an active volunteer at the Houston Area Women’s
Center, and she has been a wonderfully effective liaison
between the two organizations this year.”