[378]PROFESSOR TO RECEIVE AWARD FOR HELPING WOMEN ADVANCE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 7, 2008EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina Logue, 615-898-5081

PROFESSOR TO RECEIVE AWARD FOR HELPING WOMEN ADVANCE
Judith Iriarte-Gross to be Honored for Promotion of Women in Science

(MURFREESBORO) – Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross, a professor of chemistry at MTSU, will receive the 2008 King-Hampton Award at a luncheon from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, April 10, in the Hazlewood Dining Room of the James Union Building. The honor was established by the June Anderson Women’s Center and the Association of Faculty and University Women (AAFW) in 1990 to honor Jeannette Moore King, a member of the first Middle Tennessee Normal School faculty, and Martha Hampton, the school’s first woman administrator. The award is bestowed upon an individual who has made outstanding contributions to the advancement of women who work and study at MTSU who is chosen from nominations from the AAFW membership. Iriarte-Gross initiated and chairs the annual Women in Science lecture for MTSU’s celebration of National Women’s History Month. She also served as co-chair of the NWHM committee in 2001 and co-chair in 2002. She has served on the President’s Commission on the Status of Women since 1993 and has been a member of the Women’s Studies Council since 1997. Of particular interest to Iriarte-Gross is the mentorship of young women who are interested in careers in math and science. She is faculty adviser to the Women in Science Living and Learning Community for undergraduate women STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) majors. Iriarte-Gross established Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) as an official student organization for undergraduate and graduate women in STEM. In addition, she advises the organization Girls Raised in Tennessee Science (GRITS). The annual “Expanding Your Horizons in Science and Math” conference for middle-school and now high-school girls was begun by Iriarte-Gross in 1996 and is organized by her each year. “EYH,” as it is known, provides an opportunity for young women to learn more about science and math with their peers in a fun, collaborative environment. Iriarte-Gross earned her bachelor’s degree in chemistry and her master’s in inorganic chemistry in 1981 and 1984, respectively, from the University of Maryland, and her doctorate in inorganic chemistry from the University of South Carolina in 1990. The cost of the luncheon is $15. For more information, contact Kippy Todd at 615-898-5756 or ktodd@mtsu.edu.
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ATTENTION, MEDIA: For a photo of Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross, contact Gina Logue in the MTSU Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-5081 or gklogue@mtsu.edu.