Two University of Wisconsin administrators received philanthropy awards from the Women's Philanthropy Council, the university announced.
Jeff Hamm, the assistant dean for academic services in the school of education, and Lindsey Stoddard Cameron, coordinator of new faculty services in the office of the secretary of the faculty, were the inaugural winners of the WPC Champion Award, given to one man and one woman who have contributed to the advancement of women's equality on the UW campus.
As part of the award, Hamm and Cameron were given $5,000 each to donate to a program of their choice that benefits women at UW.
Both Hamm and Cameron have done extensive work on various administrative committees focusing on women's status in the UW workplace and in the community.
Hamm, co-chair of the Campus Committee on Women for four of the six years he's been a member, said it was an "honor" and "humbling" to receive the award.
"I'm not sure I'm a champion, but I will continue to try to be one," Hamm said in a phone interview Sunday, crediting the many people who work with him on the committee. "There's a lot of folks who've been working to improve the climate for women on campus."
Many have credited the Campus Committee on Women with helping women achieve equal status at UW and advancing women's causes.
Bernice Durand, the associate vice chancellor for diversity and climate, said the committee has been instrumental in helping establish salary equity, access to quality childcare, a women-faculty mentoring program and raising awareness of sexual harassment, which has contributed to the increase of female deans at UW.
"The Committee on Women has worked extremely well," Durand, who helped organize the selection process for the WPC award, said Sunday. "The mentoring program has been modeled by institutions nationally and our campus as a whole is far ahead of other institutions in terms of women's issues."
However, both Hamm and Durand said there is much work still to be done on the UW campus to create a more welcoming and equal environment for women.
Both Hamm and Durand have noted disparities between men and women in different areas that the university should work towards eliminating.
Durand noted the disparity between the number of men and women receiving Ph.D.s in certain academic fields, particularly in science and engineering, while Hamm raised concern over the number of women in the UW faculty.
"When the percent of women represented in faculty and leadership positions across campus is close to the percent represented in the undergraduate population, we will be closer to where we want to be," Hamm said.
Citing a multi-million dollar grant supported by the National Science Foundation to help women establish leadership positions in science and engineering programs, both Hamm and Durand said the Campus Committee on Women will continue to work to advance the causes of women on the UW campus.
"Women are moving up into leadership positions [at UW]," Hamm said, "and that is a critical step in improving the climate for women."
