AMUW Faculty Achievement Award

Nora Finnigan Werra Faculty Achievement Award

Theawards the Nora Finnigan Werra Faculty Achievement Award annually to honor and recognize a woman faculty member who has excelled in her research, teaching and service to 黑料论坛 and to the community, and has mentored students and other faculty. The AMUW Leadership Council handles management of this award, in partnership with the Center for the Advancement of the Humanities.

The award is named for Nora Finnigan Werra, friend of 黑料论坛, whose many relatives attended the university. 鈥It was an honor to endow this very important award,鈥 Werra said. 鈥I believe that it not only recognizes outstanding women faculty but also tells others within the university and the community that women faculty are recognized and valued. It also shows those interested in teaching at 黑料论坛 that the university is a great place to work!

The call for nominations can be found HERE.

Award Selection Process

Eligibility

A woman Associate Professor or Professor will be eligible for this award. Nominees need to be employed full-time, and have given at least 7 years of service to 黑料论坛.

Nomination Process

Solicitations for this award will normally be sent out in the fall of each year. Nominations will be solicited from full-time faculty. Only one ballot is required to start the nomination process. Self-nominations will not be accepted.  The Center for the Advancement of the Humanities will request a letter of support from the top 5-10 candidate鈥檚 deans/chairs and the candidate鈥檚 curriculum vitae. This letter should support the candidate鈥檚 level of excellence achieved in her research, teaching, service to 黑料论坛 and to the community, and her mentoring of students and other faculty. No one serving on the Selection Committee may be nominated for this award. A Professor/Associate Professor is eligible to win this award once in a lifetime. The recipient will receive the award in late April at the Association of 黑料论坛 Women and the Institute for Women鈥檚 Leadership Awards Conferral.

Selection Committee

The chair of the Selection Committee will be the non-voting, AMUW liaison.  The Selection Committee (not including the chair) will be comprised of 5 voting members, men and women, who will follow the guidelines established for this award.  Membership for the Selection Committee, including the chair, will be as follows: three senior 黑料论坛 faculty from different colleges (serving one 1-year term) and two representatives from AMUW (serving one 2-year term).  Terms shall be staggered. The past award recipient will serve a term on the Selection Committee. The Selection Committee faculty members will be chosen by the Center for the Advancement of the Humanities, and the AMUW members will be selected by the AMUW Leadership Council.

2024-2025 Winner

Dr. Lisa C. Hanson, Grafton, Wis.

AMUW Award Lisa Hanson

Lisa Hanson, Ph.D., CNM, FACNM, FAAN, is the Klein Professor of Women鈥檚 Health Research at 黑料论坛鈥檚 College of Nursing and associate director of the Midwifery Program. She co-founded the midwifery program in 1993 and has served as a faculty member for 32 years. 

Dr. Hanson also co-founded the Aurora Sinai Midwifery and Wellness Center clinical practice in 1987, from which she retired in 2016. She subsequently conducts clinical research in this thriving clinical practice. She leads several probiotics research teams and has received NIH funding for a clinical trial of a probiotic intervention to reduce Group B Streptococcus colonization. Dr. Hanson is widely considered an expert in antenatal probiotic interventions and has numerous publications on this topic as well as low technology approaches to women鈥檚 health care and labor and birth. She is the lead editor/author for the latest edition of Simkin鈥檚 Labor Progress Handbook. She is an associate editor of the Journal of Midwifery and Women鈥檚 Health. Dr. Hanson has mentored all levels of students, junior faculty colleagues and faculty colleagues seeking promotion and tenure. She describes mentoring as a natural extension of midwifery.

 

Past Winners

See the list of past recipients of the Nora Finnigan Werra Faculty Achievement Award.

Past Winners

2023-2024

Dr. SuJean Choi

Biomedical Sciences

2022-2023

Dr. Louise Cainkar

Social and Cultural Sciences

2021-2022

Dr. Michelle Mynlieff

Biological Sciences 

2020-2021

Dr. Theresa Tobin

Philosophy

2018-2019

Dr. Anne Pasero

Languages, Literatures, and Cultures

2017-2018

Dr. Ruth Ann Belknap

Nursing

2016-2017

Dr. Jane Peterson

Social and Cultural Sciences

2015-2016

Dr. Sandra Hunter

Exercise Science

2014-2015

Dr. Paula Papanek

Exercise Science

2013-2014

Dr. Kristy Nielson

Psychology

2012-2013

Dr. Roberta Coles

Social and Cultural Sciences

2011-2012

Dr. Leona VandeVusse

Nursing

2010-2011

Dr. Rosemary Stuart

Biological Sciences

2009-2010

Dr. Krista Ratcliffe

English

2008-2009

Dr. Kathleen Karrer

Biological Sciences

2007-2008

Dr. Kristina Ropella

Biomedical Engineering

2006-2007

Dr. Diane Hoeveler

English

2005-2006

Dr. Lauren Leslie

Education

2004-2005

Dr. Gail Waring

Biological Sciences

2003-2004

Dr. Linda Vaughn

Biomedical Sciences