A Ferris State University professor of Biology was recently honored, as Olukemi (Kemi)
Fadayomi was one of two recipients of the Distinguished Woman in Higher Education
award, during a Michigan-American Council on Education Women’s Network luncheon held
in Lansing on Tuesday, June 5.
The honor recognizes Fadayomi’s impact on the Ferris campus and beyond in promoting, mentoring, and advocating for women and women’s issues. She is co-founder and chair of Ferris’ Women’s Leadership Program, with MI-ACE highlighting the effort to support 10 female faculty members’ attendance at Higher Education Resource Services Institutes.
“Sarah Hinkley, a professor in the Michigan College of Optometry, was our 11th participant in the HERS program in Denver, Colorado, which ran from June 18-30,” Fadayomi said. “I am pleased to receive this honor, which acknowledges efforts made in a collaborative fashion to improve leadership skills across the Ferris campus.”
Beyond her classroom work, Fadayomi also serves as a Faculty-in-Residence at the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning.
“The FCTL has supported mentorship opportunities with a better Ferris in mind,” Fadayomi said. “Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Paul Blake has been very supportive of the many initiatives that allow us to serve the institution and our students better. I expect this will be a busy fall as there are other women who will benefit from the continuance of this process.”
Fadayomi’s community service includes having served as the first female president of the Crossroads Charter Academy school board, during which time the school’s first female superintendent was hired. She has also mentored CCA faculty members and middle school students who have participated in laboratory activities she developed.
“I was taught, as a child, that ‘to whom much is given, much is expected.’” Fadayomi said. “My desire to help others is a conviction that one should serve a cause that is higher than self, and with the hope and belief of making each community better with my contributions.”
Fadayomi was also honored with the 2018 Helen Gillespie Ferris Distinguished Woman Leader Award by the university’s Womens’ Advocacy Forum.
Cindy Allen, Jackson College’s vice president for Administration and Human Resources,
was the other 2018 MI-ACE Women’s Network Distinguished Women in Higher Education
award recipient. In 2015, Roberta Teahen, director of Ferris’ Doctorate in Community
College Leadership program and associate provost, was the first woman from the university
to receive that award.
PHOTO CAPTION: Ferris State University Provost and vice president for Academic Affairs Paul Blake and Connie Tingson-Gatuz, (right) vice president for Student Affairs and Mission Integration at Madonna University and one of the co-chairs of the Distinguished Woman Leader Award Committee, present Biology professor Olukemi Fadayomi the 2018 Michigan Distinguished Woman in Higher Education Leadership Award during a luncheon on Tuesday, June 5 in Lansing.