Release

UAlbany's Initiatives For Women Honors Karen R. Hitchcock at 11th Annual Awards Celebration

Contact: Lisa James Goldsberry (518) 437-4980

ALBANY, N.Y. (June 25, 2004) -- The University at Albany is receiving a gift of $25,000 from Charter One Foundation to kick off the recently established Karen R. Hitchcock New Frontiers Fund. UAlbany's Initiatives For Women (IFW), which launched the $250,000 fund drive, will acknowledge the gift at its 11th Annual Awards Celebration on Tuesday, June 29 at 4:15 p.m. in the Campus Center Ballroom on the University's uptown campus. A reception will follow the ceremony. To RSVP, go to [email protected].

The New Frontier Fund is being established by members of the business community as well as friends and colleagues as a tribute to UAlbany's 16th president. IFW will administer the endowment, with the goal of providing scholarships to doctoral-level women students at UAlbany who show great promise of making a positive, transformational difference in society. Recipients also must demonstrate financial need.

IFW builds on UAlbany's strong tradition of responsiveness to the diverse needs of women. Since 1993 IFW has made monetary awards to members of the UAlbany community to improve and enrich educational and career opportunities for women. Throughout her tenure, Hitchcock's support of the University-based, all-volunteer IFW enabled it to grow exponentially.

During the event, Hitchcock will present the annual IFW awards to 39 recipients including:

• Maryna Bazlevych, a Ph.D. student in anthropology, who will use the award for dissertation research on changing gender roles in the Ukraine.
  
  
• Dana Basnight Brown, a master's student in cognitive psychology, who will use her award to compensate participants in her study of bilingual memory.
  
  
• Ashley Heilman, an undergraduate linguistics and communication major, who will use her award for a project that compares the speech patterns of male and female athletes.
  
  
• Angie Chung, a faculty member in sociology, who will use her award to fund a pilot research study on marriage, family and culture among sons and daughters in Asian immigrant families.