Outstanding faculty, staff, and students recognized during annual Celebration of Excellence and Achievement Among Women

The Susan C. Buckley Distinguished Achievement Award for Staff and May Brodbeck Distinguished Achievement Award for Faculty were awarded to two exceptional women at the University of Iowa’s annual Celebration of Excellence and Achievement Among Women on April 10.

Meenakshi Gigi Durham, professor of journalism and mass communication; collegiate scholar; associate dean and director of diversity, equity, and inclusion for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, received the May Brodbeck Distinguished Achievement Award for Faculty.

Tricia Kroll, a licensed master social worker (LMSW) and the Ryan White Program Manager for the Division of Infectious Diseases in Internal Medicine within UI Health Care, received the Susan C. Buckley Distinguished Achievement Award for Staff.

The celebration also honored Susan Junis, an LMSW, assistant director of prevention and outreach for the Rape Victim Advocacy Program (RVAP), with the Jean Y. Jew Award, along with eight UI students who demonstrated a dedication to scholarship, research, service, leadership, and activism.

May Brodbeck Distinguished Achievement Award for Faculty: Meenakshi Gigi Durham

The May Brodbeck Distinguished Achievement Award for Faculty recognizes an outstanding accomplishment or a lifetime record of service and achievement that provides a role model for women and/or girls.

Meenakshi Gigi Durham

This year’s recipient, Meenakshi Gigi Durham, is a professor of journalism and mass communication and gender, women’s and sexuality studies; a collegiate scholar; and associate dean and director or diversity, equity and inclusion in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS).

Durham joined the UI in 2000, and her intellectual and professional leadership have been recognized with several of the UI’s most prestigious honors and awards.

She has also served as faculty administrative fellow in the Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development, supporting internal research initiatives and publicizing UI research through public engagement. As associate dean for outreach and engagement and director of diversity, she has facilitated publicly engaged scholarship and teaching and has overseen diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in CLAS. She holds a faculty fellowship in the Office of the Provost, where she assists with faculty affairs relating to the recruitment, retention, and success of underrepresented minority faculty and women.

Through her leadership in journalism and feminist media studies—as well as her contributions via publications, speaking engagements, and public appearances—she has been widely recognized within the university and in her professional fields. 

Durham’s co-edited book (with Douglas Kellner), Media and Cultural Studies: Keyworks, remains a defining text in the field of cultural studies. Her concept and book The Lolita Effect is said to have had a profound impact on public conversations in the portrayal of girls’ sexuality. Her latest monograph, Technosex, demonstrates her research on the fraught relationship between sexuality and the evolving media landscape. Her soon-to-be-completed book, MeToo: How Rape Culture in the Media Affect Us All, examines the impact of rape culture and media.

Durham has taken on ever-greater administrative responsibility, and uses a collaborative and supportive administrative style. She has served as a mentor and role model in her leadership positions and in her everyday work with undergraduates, graduate students, and colleagues. She has chaired no fewer than 13 dissertation committees, a dozen master’s thesis committees, and has served on many graduate committees in other departments. 

Susan C. Buckley Distinguished Achievement Award for Staff: Tricia Kroll

The Susan C. Buckley Distinguished Achievement Award for Staff recognizes an outstanding accomplishment or a lifetime record of service and achievement provides a role model for women and/or girls. This year, the award recognizes the achievements of Tricia Kroll.

Tricia Kroll

Kroll was nominated for her 19 years of work and long-term leadership with the Ryan White Program, a competitive grant-funded program that facilitates medical care, advocacy, and support services for people living with HIV and AIDS. Kroll’s leadership transformed the program from 300 patients assisted by a single social worker to one with 12 staff assisting more than 750 patients. Her system, a holistic approach to helping people with multiple societal and health challenges, has been largely adopted by the Iowa Department of Public Health. 

In 2013, when the local AIDS service agency closed, Kroll worked to expand the program’s community services to HIV-infected individuals and to include the southeast corner of Iowa. Under her leadership, the program’s grant grew to more than $1.6 million, resulting in its HIV clinic having the best results of any in the country. Over 90 percent of its more than 700 patients are on antiviral medication and their HIV is suppressed, allowing them to lead healthy lives. 

As a result of Kroll’s campus organization interactions, the UI’s Walk It Out student event has dedicated the proceeds from its annual fashion show to an HIV clinic patient fund for the past five years. In addition, Kroll successfully applied for a program to oversee Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS (HOPWA) for the community. Funded through the Iowa Finance Authority, HOPWA provides emergency short-term and longer-term housing for those in need and improved housing opportunities for impoverished Iowans with HIV.

Jean Y. Jew Women’s Rights Award: Susan Junis

The Jean Y. Jew Women’s Rights Award recognizes outstanding accomplishments and contributions to the UI; a longstanding record of leadership, effort, and activism; and accomplishments of national scope or impact.

Susan Junis

Susan Junis was nominated in recognition of the numerous leadership roles, teaching, and advocacy she has provided to the university and local community, as well as for assistance she has provided to agencies across the nation combating alcohol-facilitated sexual assault. 

Junis has advocated for survivors of sexual violence at the individual and systemic level at the UI by starting in-person violence-prevention efforts with the goal of preventing sexual violence. Her efforts also have supported cultural change around prevention and response to survivors of sexual assault. 

In addition to mentoring young advocates, Junis has taught courses and has served to improve the lives of women at the UI by calling for more thoughtful approaches to supporting survivors and holding perpetrators accountable. 

Junis was instrumental in the planning the It’s On Us Summit, the white identity exploration workshops, and womxn@iowa programming. She organized the trans resource alliance through RVAP to improve accessibility and responsiveness to sexual assault support services for trans survivors. She also led a series of sessions for the Advocating for Safer Communities certificate program.

Junis is also writing handbook for parents of incoming UI students to help guide conversations about sexual violence. 

Student Achievements

Eight students were recognized with scholarships to honor their work and commitment to women’s issues, diversity, and social activism.

• Charlotte Gude, from Burnsville, Minnesota, an undergraduate in political science and social justice, in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS), received the Adele Kimm Scholarship.
• Michelle Colpean, from Fort Wayne, Indiana, a PhD candidate in communication studies (rhetoric and public advocacy) and a graduate certificate in gender, women’s, and sexuality studies in CLAS, received the Jane A. Weiss Memorial Dissertation Scholarship.
• Kristen D. Young, from Chicago, an undergraduate student in the School of Social Work in CLAS, received the Wynonna G. Hubbard Scholarship.
• Zayetzy Luna Garcia, from Iowa City, Iowa, an undergraduate in business analytics and international business in the Henry B. Tippie College of Business, received the Margaret P. Benson Memorial Scholarship.
• Mayra Lopez, from Storm Lake, Iowa, a graduate student in the School of Social Work in CLAS, received the Margaret P. Benson Memorial Scholarship.
• Caroline Cheung, from Rochester, New York, a PhD candidate in English and a graduate certificate in gender, women’s, and sexuality studies in CLAS, received the Adah Johnson/Otilia Maria Fernandez Scholarship.
• Fatima Abby Tall, from Caldwell, Idaho, an undergraduate in gender, women’s, and sexuality studies and English/creative writing in CLAS, received the Kristin K. Lippke Memorial Scholarship.
• Lindsey Jarrat, from Strongsville, Ohio, a PhD candidate in education policy and leadership studies in the College of Education, received the Stephen Lynn Smith Memorial Scholarship for Social Justice.
• Logina Mostafa, from Bettendorf, Iowa, an undergraduate in gender, women’s, and sexuality studies and global health studies in CLAS, also received the Stephen Lynn Smith Memorial Scholarship for Social Justice.