Helen Gillespie Ferris Distinguished Woman Leader Award

The Ferris Women’s Network is pleased to announce the call for nominations for the Helen Gillespie Ferris Distinguished Woman Leader Award.

Nominations can be made using the link below; please include a brief narrative or a bulleted list explaining how the nominee embodies and meets the award criteria listed below.

Make a Nomination

Nomination Deadline

The nomination deadline is February 14, 2024. Nominees must be current employees of Ferris State University and can be based in any university division or location within the state of Michigan.

Award Criteria

This award was created to recognize and honor those individuals who have distinguished themselves by providing outstanding leadership to women at their institutions, in their profession, and in society-at-large.

The award is designed to recognize work on behalf of women in higher education that is beyond the scope of the nominee’s formal staff or faculty job responsibilities.

Among activities considered worthy of this recognition are the following:

Mentoring women to enhance their leadership skills in higher education
Promoting women into increasingly responsible roles in higher education
Planning and implementing programs for women
Conducting research on and writing about women's leadership in
higher education
Making presentations on women in leadership in higher education
Providing advocacy for women's issues in higher education
Serving as a catalyst for policy changes
Attaining a higher education leadership position in which the nominee serves as an inspiration or role model for other women
Being recognized state-wide, nationally or internationally for work on behalf of women in higher education
An evident philosophy of helping women that goes beyond job duties
A reputation for fairness, equity, and justice based on actions on behalf
of women
A positive impact on women in leadership that goes beyond the nominee’s own campus
Publications or presentations that provide new information of use to women
Founding or originating events and programs to benefit women
Evidence of advancement on behalf of women in general by breaking gender barriers (e.g., in non-traditional or ground-breaking career roles)

Eligibility

Members of the Michigan ACE Women’s Network Executive Board, ACE Network Institutional Representatives, and their family members are not eligible to receive either the HGF or DWL Awards during their terms of service. Past Ferris recipients for the DWL Award are not eligible for the HGF Award. a brief narrative or a bulleted list explaining how the nominee embodies and meets the award criteria listed above.

More Information

For more information about the award, please contact committee chair Jennifer Yontz-Barger at [email protected].

Previous Award Recipients