Prof. Yvonne Williams is Recipient of 2008 ATHENA Award

April 29, 2008

April 29, 2008, Greencastle, Ind. - Yvonne C. Williams, Hampton and Esther Boswell Distinguished Professor of Black Studies at DePauw University, is the 2008 recipient of the ATHENA Award. She will be honored on the evening of May 13 at the Wooster Inn.

Presented by Ohio's Wayne County Women's Network, the award honors both women and men who have achieved excellence in their profession or life's work, devoted time and effort in their communities to improve the quality of life for others, and actively helped women realize their full leadership potential.

"She should have been the first person to ever have gotten this award," Linda Houston says of Williams, whom she nominated for the honor. "For all the time that I have known her, Yvonne has spent time working for other people and mentoring them, and mostly women, and mostly African-American women. If we could go through all the people who have graduated from the College of Wooster, we would find people who could line up three times around the block. I am proud as can be."

Williams "spent many years teaching at the College of Wooster, including four years as dean of the faculty," notes a story in the Wooster Daily Record. "Now on the faculty at DePauw University in Indiana, Williams still is involved in the Wooster community." She is retiring from the DePauw faculty at the end of the current academic year.

The nomination for the ATHENA Award states that Williams "brought black studies to national attention ... Going back many years, she was one of the first of two black women ever admitted to Harvard Law School. While this honor speaks to all women, Yvonne Williams especially has given young black women a reason for hope to serve in major places in our society."

Dr. Williams says, "I did know that I was nominated but it was done under protest. It is fantastic. This is so inspiring -- to sit and hear all of the accomplishments of the many women who have received it in the past." She adds, "I feel very privileged to be in this group."

The professor also notes, "There are so many opportunities for women today. It's still not easy. There are still barriers to overcome. But there is a lot of support for them and for me. This is a kind of sisterhood to look for that support."

Read more at the Daily Record's Web site.

The ATHENA Award is presented annually by chambers of commerce, women's organizations and universities. Since the program's inception in 1982 more than 5000 awards have been presented in over 500 communities in the United States, Canada, China, Russia, the United Arab Emirates and most recently the United Kingdom.

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