Center for the Study of Global Gender Equity

Happy Motivational Monday!

Evelyne Accad began teaching at the University of Illinois in 1974 as an Assistant Professor in French and Comparative Literature and became a Full Professor in 1988. She was an adjunct professor in African Studies, Gender and Women’s Studies, and Middle Eastern Studies. She received several awards for her research and service including, the Prix International de Poesie Emmanuel Robles in 2006, the International Writer of the Year Award from IBC Cambridge in 2003, and the Fulbright Research and Teaching Award for Lebanon in 2002. Evelyne was one of the first feminist scholars to speak out against ge***al mutilation and other crimes against women. She established the Evelyne Accad and Paul Vieille International Research Award for graduate studentsresearching issues related to women in North Africa and the Middle East.

Happy National Cancer Survivors' Day!

Jeanette McCollum joined the College of Education in 1976 and became influential in the Special Education Department. Now Professor Emeritus, she is a leader in research and personnel preparation in the fields of Early Intervention (EI) and Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE). In 1999, the Illinois Subdivision of the Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children (IDEC) instituted the Jeanette A. McCollum Award for Service to the Field in honor of Jeanette’s research in these areas. Jeanette is currently working on an Early Reading First project called “Developing Early Language and Literacy in Danville.”

Joan Huber came to the University of Illinois in 1971, teaching a range of sociology courses as well as Introduction to Women’s Studies in the Social Sciences. From 1978 to 1980, she was director of the Women’s Studies Office, which is now the Departmentof Gender and Women’s Studies. Joan also was head of the Department of Sociology from 1979 to 1983 and was a leading figure in the establishment of the School of Humanities in 1978. She served as president of Sociologists for Women in Society (1972-1974), the Midwest Sociological Society (1979-1980), and the American Sociological Association (1988-1989). Joan also received recognition and awards for excellence in teaching and scholarship, including being chosen as the recipient of the Jessie Bernard Award from the American Sociological Association in 1985.

Happy Memorial Day!

Joan L. Mitchell came to the University of Illinois in 1969 as a physics graduate student and received her PhD in 1974. Immediately after receiving her PhD, Joan went to work for the IBM Corporation in the Exploratory Printing Technologies Group at the T.J. Watson Research Center. The holder of more than 70 patents, Joan was one of the top 20 inventors in IBM’s research division. Her work was crucial to the development of coders and decoders used in data compression standards for facsimile machines, printers, and digital transmission of images. From 1987 to 1994, Joan was a leader in the Joint Photographic Experts Group, the organization that developed JPEG image compression. In 2011, she received the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineer’s Masaru Ibuka Consumer Electronics Award for fundamental contribution to image compression in printing technology and digital imaging processing in consumer electronics. That same year, she also was inducted into the Hall of Fame for the College of Engineering.