Outstanding Women Awards presented
The President's Commission on the Status of Women recognized seven ladies with Outstanding Women Awards last week. From left are honorees Taylor Trippe, Tammie Tubbs and Nicole Rader; MSU Provost and Executive Vice President Jerry Gilbert; and honorees Vemitra White, Leah Pylate, Judy Hammett and Michelle Lewis. PHOTO: Megan Bean | Public Affairs
Seven women with close connections to Mississippi State University were presented with 2015 Outstanding Women Awards last Tuesday [April 7].
In the Griffis Hall Forum Room, the MSU President's Commission on the Status of Women recognized the group of female professionals, including:
-- Judy Hammett, Outstanding Support Staff Woman.
-- Leah Pylate, Outstanding Professional Staff Woman.
-- Nicole Rader, Outstanding Faculty Woman.
-- Tammie Tubbs, Outstanding Community Woman.
-- Vemitra White, Outstanding Graduate Woman.
Two MSU seniors also received Student Leadership Awards:
-- Michelle M. Lewis, an accounting major and the daughter of Joseph S. Lewis of South Roy, Washington; Kathy J. Lewis of Olympia, Washington; and Minnie Dougherty of Sanford, North Carolina.
-- Taylor M. Trippe, a biological engineering major minoring in mathematics and the daughter of Wilbur and Sharon Trippe of Biloxi.
"If you look at the President's Commission on the Status of Women here at Mississippi State, it's an impressive organization that is inclusive of students, staff and the community," said Jerry Gilbert, MSU provost and executive vice president. "The PCSW is helping to advocate for change on this campus."
Hammett, senior library associate for the College of Architecture, Art and Design, has worked in the Bob and Kathy Luke Library for more than three decades, and she mentors female students. In her spare time, she is involved in several faith-based initiatives, including ministries related to women and students at Calvary Baptist Church in Starkville.
As the assistant director of health education and wellness for University Health Services, Pylate creates, plans, implements and evaluates MSU sexual and relationship assault-prevention initiatives. Also, she is an MSU doctoral student in human development and family studies at MSU and works as an instructor of foundations of health promotions for MSU undergraduate students.
Rader is an expert in the study of gender with a particular emphasis on the causes and consequences of fear of crime in women's lives, and she is devoted to advancing the status and well-being of women in her research agenda and service work at MSU. The associate professor of sociology was twice selected as the Distinguished Faculty Member in the Department of Sociology for her mentoring efforts, particularly on behalf of students studying gender inequality issues.
As an advocate for women's issues on the national, state and local levels, Tubbs, the executive producer and television host of "Talking with Tammie" on WEPH-Channel 49 Christian Television Network, has mentored women through women-empowerment conferences and mother/daughter retreats and is an ordained minister at Charity Full Gospel Baptist Church.
White, a doctoral student in instructional systems and workforce development at MSU, promotes love for university and community outreach that impacts women. The Crawford native is the current president of the Graduate Student Association, former vice president of the Black Graduate Student Association, a member of the Graduate Council and a Graduate Student Senator. Beyond her engagement, mentoring, co-advising and volunteering at MSU, she volunteers in her local community.
As president of the Accounting and Financial Women's Alliance, Lewis assists women in those fields to accelerate their professional growth. She has served as a volunteer income tax assistant in Starkville and worked with the MSU Maroon Volunteer Center at Emerson Family School.
MSU student Trippe is a member of the Shackouls Honors College and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, and she has received scholarships from the Mississippi Eminent Scholars Grant and the Montgomery Leadership Program. Taylor also works with the 2015 Women Empowered Leadership Conference, or WE Lead, as an event planner and conference counselor.
"I am proud to be part of this ceremony to recognize these women," Gilbert said.
Learn more about the MSU President's Commission on the Status of Women at www.committees.msstate.edu/pcsw.
Discover more about Mississippi's flagship research university at www.msstate.edu or www.meridian.msstate.edu, facebook.com/msstate, pinterest.com/msstate, instagram.com/msstate and twitter.com/msstate using the hashtag #WeRingTrue
Leah Barbour | Public Affairs
