The 2010 Women in Leadership Conference

 

On February 18th and 19th, U.Va. hosted its second Women in Leadership Conference which featured a wide variety of panels, discussions, and lectures, all of which addressed the Conference’s central theme of “Leading by Example.” The two main featured speakers who opened and closed the Conference, respectively, were Sara James, an award-winning correspondent for Dateline NBC, and Cheryl Mills, the current Counselor and Chief of Staff to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Listen to the WTJU radio show with the Women's Center's Mary Beth Lineberry.Betsy Casteen, the wife of U.Va. President Casteen, opened the conference with a short historical account of women in leadership. Using U.Va. as an example, she traced both the development of women currently working as staff and faculty members in the field of higher education, as well as the growing majority of female students attending universities nationwide. During the “Women in Leadership at U.Va.” panel, Gertrude Fraser, Vice Provost for Faculty Retention & Recruitment and Professor of Anthropology, stated that since 1970, tens of thousands of women have graduated from U.Va., a huge improvement since the first female class of students entered in 1970 with just 450 members. While the University currently boasts a 56% undergraduate female population, the number of tenured women professors, according to Professor Fraser, is about 25%—“very low,” she states, “compared to the number of Assistant Professors at American universities.” In Professor Fraser’s words, “there needs to be substantial change in women professor numbers to reflect the large number of female undergraduate students currently studying at U.Va.”

Another memorable take-away moment from the “Women in Leadership at U.Va.” panel came from Collette Sheehy, currently the Vice President for Management & Budget at U.Va., who remains hopeful for the future of professional women at the University. She stated: “I’m proud of the number of women in administrative power. I was the first female VP here, now there are four female VPs, and soon we will have a woman President.” All members of the panel provided thanks to President Casteen for creating a new generation of women’s leadership at the University; according to Professor Fraser, “his support has not gone unnoticed, and we are extremely appreciative of it.”

The featured speakers at the Conference also touched on the importance of women’s leadership, in all its varied shapes and styles, as it continues to develop all over the world. In reflecting on her own career, Dateline correspondent Sarah James, a 1983 graduate of the College of Arts & Sciences, stated: “leaders are restless and they are relentless . . . I never consciously set out to be a leader, but I most certainly did think about the ways that I, as a reporter, could bear witness to the achievements of women in so many fields.”

Cheryl Mills, a 1987 graduate of the College and current Counselor and Chief of Staff to Secretary of State Clinton, recognized the unsung women heroes whose work and achievements go without notice everyday. Mills was the recipient of the Women’s Center’s 2010 U.Va. Distinguished Alumna Award which—according to Sharon Davie, the director of the Women’s Center—“honors women who have used their creativity, imagination, and intelligence to make a difference in people’s lives.” Davie states that Mills’ selection “really has to do with the whole trajectory of her career . . . [and her] willingness to take chances and bring excellence to every endeavor she undertakes.”

Mills’ résumé is quite impressive. It spans the fields of higher-education administration, media development, corporate and nonprofit affairs, and most prominently, legal practice and policy. In addition to her notable work with the State Department, Mills has worked as a senior-level administrator at NYU, a top executive of Oxygen Media, and a celebrated Deputy Counsel, who successfully defended President Clinton during the 1999 Senate impeachment trial. Most immediately, Mills has been involved in coordinating the State Department’s relief efforts in Haiti. As a leader of Secretary Clinton’s task force for the issue, Ms. Mills is working to combine emergency relief with long-term development goals in the area.

In expressing her gratitude for the award, Mills stated: “I feel very privileged to be the recipient of the Distinguished Alumna award. My time at U.Va. provided me with invaluable experiences that have helped shape my career and my life.” Cheryl Mills joins the ranks of women leaders who have received the award since 1991, including CBS News Anchor Katie Couric and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano.

by Mary Beth Lineberry