Sharing Success Stories of ‘Sisters’ With Doctorates
Derek Walcott. After receiving a graduate
degree in English from Columbia and her doc-
torate in literacy studies from UNC, she taught
at Georgia State University before joining Kent
Joanne Kilgour Dowdy ’ 97 (PhD) considers teaching to be “soul work” — the sort of profession sometimes classified as a calling. As
she strolled among the tables set up at the UNC
State’s faculty.
Dowdy’s book — which received the 2009
Graduate Student Center for a recent meeting
of the Women of Color in the Academy, calling
on women and offering encouragement and
advice, her approach seemed to be every bit a
combination of the schoolmarm and the confidante.
Educational Research Association’s Narrative
interviewing black women
in northeast Ohio who have
worked in higher education.
Outstanding Book Award from the American
CARL LEET
Dowdy found that for them,
academia can be a lonely
road, with female academics expressing an
overwhelming need when it comes to success —
how to define it, mentor for it and identify tools
to attain it.
“What do you want to know? What do you
know? And what have you learned?” asked
Dowdy, who studies how race, sex and age
affect access to education in her post as professor of adolescent and adult literacy in the
School of Teaching, Learning and Curriculum
Studies at Kent State University. “I identify how
people succeed and how we pass those studies
on and share successful methods.”
Dowdy discussed her latest book, Ph.D. Stories: Conversations With My Sisters, with the
group of more than 50 academics and professional women from UNC, Duke and N.C. State
as well as UNC alumnae and others from IBM.
Women of Color in the Academy hosts two
UNC events each year for faculty, administrators, graduate students and postdoctoral scholars. Ruthie D. Lyle, a patent engineer at IBM in
Research Triangle Park, had two reasons for
attending the August luncheon. “I came to
share and gain insights into the experiences of
professional women such as myself,” she said.
“Dr. Dowdy spoke a great deal about tracking
the stories of success and using those to help
others coming along. That alone was of great
interest to me.”
The women were eager to learn about the stories in the book but also to share their own stories. And they wanted to get advice from Dowdy
about succeeding in the academic world.
Dowdy’s advice for Lyle and the academics
in the group: Consider yourselves writers and
become better at writing. She recommends that
academic women expose themselves to writing
training and make the time to write — the bathroom is a good place to write, she said, drawing
laughter.
Dowdy had a full career on stage and TV in
her native Trinidad before moving to the U.S. to
attend the Juilliard School’s drama division in
Joanne Kilgour Dowdy ’ 97 (PhD) emphasizes writing to other
women working in academic scholarship, saying that “every
paper you write shold be turned into a publication.”
1983. She was one of the founding members of
Trinidad and Tobago Television Workshop and
worked with Nobel Prize-winning playwright
— Don Evans ’ 80
profile
“Think of yourself as a compost heap,” she
added. “You have to be actively collecting. You
have to write every day and put your arms
around that. It’s easy to write two paragraphs a
day. And that can add up to 300 pages a year.
That Ph.D. is a baby to nurture. Every paper you
write should be turned into a publication.”
and Research Special Interest Group — was
inspired by Dowdy becoming the only black
female professor in her department. She
focused her research skills on the situation,
Angeles was honored at the opening night ceremony
of the U.S. Open tennis tournament. Hamm, three-time Olympic soccer medalist and two-time World
Cup champion, was recognized along with Andre
Agassi, Doug Flutie and David Robinson for charitable works since retiring from their sports. The Mia
Hamm Foundation raises funds and awareness for
bone marrow transplants in honor of her brother,
Garrett, who died from complications of bone marrow disease. u Rebecca Roman Hanrahan (’ 94 MA,
’ 98 PhD) of Walla Walla, Wash., has received the
Thomas B. Howells Award for Distinguished Teaching
in the Humanities and Arts from Whitman College,
where she is an assistant professor of psychology. u
Eric Scott Montross (’ 94 AB) of Chapel Hill served
as honorary chair for the fifth annual Summer’s End
Golf Tourney sponsored by Cornucopia House Cancer
Support Center. Montross, a member of the UNC
basketball team that won the 1993 NCAA championship, played in the NBA for 10 years and now
serves as sports commentator for the Tar Heel
Sports Network. He served on the GAA Board of
Directors from 2006 to 2009.
; family additions
Jennifer Osborne Collier (’ 94 BSN) and Keith Eric
Collier (’90 AB) of Linden; a daughter, Mallory Claire
Collier, on March 20, 2009. u Amy Tross Dixon (’ 94
AB) and Gregg F. LoCascio of Arlington, Va.; a daughter, Vivian Ann LoCascio, on July 25, 2009. u Mona
Mitrani Markus (’ 94 AB) and David Oscar Markus of
Pinecrest, Fla.; a daughter, Megan Alyssa Markus, on
Aug. 3, 2009. u Tara Cothran Moon (’ 94 BSBIO, ’ 96
BSCLS) and Jason Scott Moon (’06 AB) of Chapel
Hill; a son, James Davis Moon, on July 21, 2009.
’ 95 David J. Neill (’ 95 AB, ’04 JD) of Durham has become the first lawyer with Smith Moore Leatherwood LLP to
become a Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design accredited professional. Neill focuses his
practice on land-use regulation, economic development and commercial real estate development
issues. u Craig Robert Senn (’ 95 JD) of New
Orleans has been named an associate professor of
law at the College of Law, Loyola University New
Orleans. u Gary John White (’ 95 MSENV) of
Kansas City, Mo., has joined actor Matt Damon to
co-found Water.org. The new organization combines
the marketing platform of Damon’s H2O Africa with
the on-the-ground water project success of White’s
WaterPartners.
; marriage
Mary Evelyn Thornton (’ 95 JD) and Hunter Andrew
Payne (’ 92, ’ 91 AB; ’ 95 JD) of Los Angeles and
Washington, D.C.
; family additions
Tina Young Sampson (’ 95 AB) and Michael Patrick
Sampson of Greensboro; a son, Luke Tyler Sampson,
on April 9, 2009. u James Richard Shipp (’ 95 AB)
and Jen Palancia Shipp of Greensboro; a daughter,
Megan Samantha Shipp, on July 2, 2009.
; obituary
Thomas J. Votta (’ 95 MS), 41, of Warwick, R.I.; Feb.
26, 2009. Votta was a chemical engineer in San
Francisco before returning to New England.
’ 96 George Mason Oliver (’ 96 AB) of New Bern has been appointed to the Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Trustee Panel for the Eastern District of North Carolina. Oliver, a partner with
Oliver & Friesen PLLC, is a board-certified specialist
in business bankruptcy law. u Penelope Pence
Smith (’ 96 PhD) of Kailua, Hawaii, has been promoted to department chair, management and marketing, in the College of Business Administration at
Hawaii Pacific University. u Deborah Evans Sperati
(’ 96 AB, ’ 99 JD) of Rocky Mount has been selected
as a member of Leadership North Carolina, Class
XVII for 2009-10. Sperati is a partner with Poyner
Spruill, practicing in the areas of civil and commercial litigation, bankruptcy and creditors’ rights.
; marriages
Chimi Lushana Boyd (’ 96 AB) and Kirk Keyes of
Raleigh. u C. Joy Starnes (’ 96 AB) and Steve Mast
of Charlotte.
