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Kathleen M. Wilbur (view biography) , CMU vice president for government relations and public affairs, and Martha Warfield, WMU associate vice president for diversity and inclusion, each received the Distinguished Woman in Higher Education Leadership Award. The award, first presented by Michigan ACE in 2001, recognizes the significant contributions women have made at Michigan's colleges and universities and in their communities.
Distinguished Women honorees Martha Warfield (second from left) and Kathy Wilbur
(third from left) are pictured with Michigan ACE Network board members (left to right)Karen Klumpp, Marlene Kowalski-Braun and Nancy Barker.
Wilbur served as interim president of CMU during 2009-2010; she was the first woman named to that position in the university’s history. She has been a leader in both government and education for nearly three decades. She was a member of the Michigan State University Board of Trustees, served as director of three state departments, and was chief of staff for former state Sen. William Sederburg.
At CMU, Wilbur advocates for the university in Washington and Lansing. She is also responsible for the university’s television and radio public broadcast stations. Active in her community, Wilbur established the nonprofit Women’s Caring Program and served as its vice president for 18 years.
“I am sincerely honored and humbled to receive this prestigious award from an outstanding organization dedicated to the advancement of women leaders in higher education,” Wilbur said. “Through its professional development, advocacy and mentoring programs, the Michigan ACE Network provides invaluable resources that develop, support and advance women throughout higher education.”
Warfield (view biography) was named to lead WMU’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion in 2008. She implemented and oversees the university’s diversity and multiculturalism action plan, and continues to work with the Kalamazoo Promise and other community diversity efforts. Warfield is a member of the WMU President’s Commission on Gender Equity, newly elected Kalamazoo Public Schools board member, and a board member for the Michigan Department of Human Services.
Warfield said the state’s higher education institutions are fortunate to have the supportive services of the Michigan ACE Network. “It is especially significant to be recognized for this honor by other women who are devoted to ensuring that we are able to reach our maximum potential and make a meaningful contribution in leadership roles in education,” she said.
Warfield is a licensed psychologist and joined WMU’s faculty in 1992 as an associate professor in the Counseling and Testing Center. She established Kalamazoo’s first African-American owned mental health clinic.
In 2001, the Michigan ACE Network board established the “Distinguished Woman in Higher Education Leadership Award” to publicly honor women’s groundbreaking work on behalf of women in general and for outstanding advocacy and leadership of women within the profession of higher education. The annual award recognizes individuals whose innovations and achievements inspire others, who freely mentor and encourage colleagues and students, and whose accomplishments reach outward, above and beyond the scope of their formal day to day institutional responsibilities. Honorees have distinguished themselves as both advocates for women and catalysts for change. |
The goal of the Young Women Strong Leaders event is to invest in the leadership development of college women by exposing them to strategies for leadership success and to professional journey stories from women across the state of Michigan in various fields.
In concert with the Office of Women in Higher Education (OWHE) of the American Council on Education, the Michigan ACE Network is committed to identifying, developing the leadership of, advancing, and supporting the retention of women in higher education throughout the state. The Michigan ACE Network is open to all public and private, two-year and four-year institutions in the state and requires institutional membership for participation in Network activities.