WSU Honors Five Women of Distinction for 2006

PULLMAN, Wash. – The five women awarded the 2006 Washington State University Women of Distinction awards have been announced and will be honored with presentations by President V. Lane Rawlins at the Women’s Recognition Luncheon beginning at noon March 21 in the Compton Union Building Ballroom.

The 2006 Women of Distinction – each of whom is eligible to be named WSU Woman of the Year – are Judy Allen, who received the award as a WSU alumna; Samantha Swindell, who received the award as WSU faculty member; Barbara Aston, who received the award as a WSU staff employee; Dana Murray Patterson, who received the award as a WSU student; and Vicki Owens who received the award as a woman outside WSU.

The theme of this year’s awards program is “Women, Builders of Communities and Dreams.”  To be considered for the award, candidates had to distinguish themselves in academic work, career, leadership and public service. Also, each had to contribute to the personal growth and success of others, especially women, through education, research and public or outstanding volunteer service.

Judy Allen, WSU Alumna Award recipient, earned her two master’s degrees in child development and regional planning from WSU. She founded the Community Action Center in Whitman County and worked as the center’s executive director for 18 years. She was nominated for her dedication to bettering the plight of those living in poverty, to providing training needed to advance their potential in the work place and to providing quality childcare to help enhance the communities in which they live. She has led agency projects which enhanced the quality of life for local residents such as Change Point!, My Family and Soups On. She also has helped with issues of nutrition, budgeting, GED, community jobs and literacy. Allen has served on a countywide Public Health and Safety Network Board; a state-level Economic Services Advisory Committee during planning, build-up and early evaluation efforts for Washington State Workfirst; and on an Advisory Board for the WSU Community Services Learning Center. One of her nominators said that Allen believed strongly in the mission statement of the Community Action Center, “To empower the people and communities of Whitman County to be self-sustaining by promoting the self-reliance of people with low to moderate income, to encourage their active participation in community life, foster mutual support among people and promote cooperation between local communities.”

Samantha Swindell, WSU Faculty Woman Award recipient, completed her master and doctoral degree at WSU under the direction of Frances McSweeney. She conducted post-doctoral research with Barbara Sorg in the Department of Veterinary and Comparative Anatomy, Pharmacology and Physiology and served as a temporary instructor for the Department of Psychology and the Honors College for several years. In 2002, Swindell was appointed to the position of undergraduate program director for the Department of Psychology. As such, she teaches a variety of courses for the department and oversees various aspects of the undergraduate program, including recruitment, program assessment, advising and retention. She has been recognized for her teaching abilities both as a graduate student and a faculty member. To date, she is the coauthor of 31 journal articles and 26 conference presentations. Her nominators believed that Swindell is an example of what a WSU professor can achieve.

Barbara Aston, a WSU alumna, is the WSU Employee Woman Award recipient. She has been the assistant to the provost as the tribal liaison since 1998 providing support for the Native American Advisory Board to the president and facilitating Native American initiatives. She also serves as WSU tribal liaison with the Native American tribes in the region and provides joint oversight for WSU Native American Recruitment and Retention Services. Aston, who is a member of the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma, collaborated with the College of Liberal Arts in the development of the Plateau Center for American Indian Studies and works closely with College of Education in support of the Clearinghouse for Native Teaching and Learning and the coordination of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe/WSU Education Plan. She has provided coordination and instruction for the Colville Confederated Tribes Summer Internship Program. Barbara facilitated three tribal language roundtable discussions at WSU and two major Native Language and Culture Conferences in response to the critical needs surrounding the preservation and revitalization of tribal languages.   Prior to her appointment as tribal liaison, she served in the WSU Native American Student Center for 11 years, first as an assistant and then as counselor. In the words of her nominators, Aston has through her commitment, integrity, respect and faith laid the way to a foundation of trust and mutual respect. Her positive influence had extended to countless students across the university, these students going on to graduate and become leaders in their own tribal communities. She is building the foundation for a future of increased understanding and collaboration across multi-dimensional boundaries of institutions, disciplines, geography and tribal nations. 

Dana Murray Patterson, WSU Student Award recipient, will graduate this May with a doctorate in higher education from the Department of Educational Leadership and Counseling Psychology.  She has worked as the graduate director for the Talmadge Anderson Heritage House for the last three years and has extensive professional experience from various aspects of student affairs and diversity education from major universities across the country. She serves as a student advocate and mentor with Student Athletes of Color, Black Women’s Caucus, Society of Spoken Word Artist and as a board member of the YWCA of WSU.  Murray Patterson is a third-year member of the Student Conduct Board and recently co-chaired the Martin Luther King planning committee. Recognized by Black Student Union for her service and contribution to the African American community, she is also a 2005 winner of the President’s Award for excellence in leadership and service to the WSU community at large. Her nominators described her extraordinary character, generosity of spirit, tenacity, grace, optimism, clear-sightedness and humor, and mentioned that her greatest strength is to inspire students and colleagues to similar heights.

Vicki Owens, Woman Outside WSU Award recipient, first visited Uganda in 1985 on a two-year contract to help start a primary school. Ten weeks into her stay, she woke up one morning to find herself on the front lines of a military coup. Despite that ignominious beginning, or perhaps because of it, she became aware of an intensity of human needs unknown during her years in Richland and Pullman. She completed her doctoral studies in educational psychology from WSU and sought a position lecturing at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, in 1989. During her time there, she’s grown increasingly aware of the disproportionate burden Ugandan women encounter in STD infection, psychosocial effects of war and physical and emotional consequences of caring for relatives dying of AIDS. After realizing that a single counselor can only help a finite number of people, she moved from training teachers to training counselors in 1997, founding the first graduate program in counseling psychology in Uganda. She has been formally involved in community service in many ways, including participating on the committee charged with developing Makerere University‘s policy on sexual harassment, serving on the Senate Gender Mainstreaming Committee and assisting in planning and coordinating the Women’s Worlds International Multidisciplinary Conference hosted at Makerere University in 2002. Informally she has mentored dozens of women and men to envision and empower them to build healthy communities and to achieve their dreams. Her nominator said, “She has the best type of impact – changing women one-on-one, face-to-face and by personal example.”