Congratulations to our 2007 Honoree!

DR. JANET PISANESCHI
Provost & Vice President for Academic Affairs,
Western Michigan University

Seventh Recipient of the
Distinguished Woman in Higher Education Leadership Award

Dr. Janet I. Pisaneschi is Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Western Michigan University. She began her career as a mentor to young women as a biology teacher for students from elementary age through high school, following her graduation from Ursuline College. After earning an MA degree from St. John’s University and a doctoral in the Philosophy of Science at St. Louis University, Dr. Pisaneschi became the first woman to lead an academic division at Christian Brothers College in Memphis. She also served on the staff of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission.

After moving to the University of Kentucky as an Assistant Dean, she became a Congressional Fellow of the American Society for Allied Health Professions, funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. While in Washington DC, Dr. Pisaneschi assisted with HIV/AIDS legislation, which led to her position in Manhattan as an educational programming consultant to the American Foundation for AIDS Research.

In 1989, Janet Pisaneschi was recruited by the Provost to head Western Michigan’s College of Health and Human Services, where she led the development of the Bronson School of Nursing and established the Unified Clinics to provide clinical experience for WMU students and serve the Kalamazoo area community. She oversaw the construction of a $50 million health and social services facility to house all the university’s programs in one state-of-the-art building, and she has created a research enterprise at WMU that is one of the nation’s ten largest for an allied health college of its kind.

Always ready to serve, Dr. Pisaneschi delayed her retirement to answer Western Michigan’s call to become its Provost during the University’s present search for a new President and Provost.

In the words of her nominator, WMU President Diether Haenicke, who first hired her in 1989, “I count that hire as one of my best… and (today) have learned anew the power of her leadership style . I can think of no leader more deserving of this coveted award.”

About the Distinguished Woman in Higher Education Leadership Award

This award is presented annually by the Michigan ACE Network for Women in Higher Education.

In an organization which attracts the involvement of academic and administrative leaders in higher education and those who aspire to follow in their footsteps, it is a challenging task to single out just a few of the many who have pioneered change and championed the voices of women in their profession.

Despite the challenge, in the year 2001 the American Council on Education Michigan Network chose to encourage an increased public awareness of women's particular contributions at the college and university level by creating the "Distinguished Women in Higher Education Leadership Award". This award, which has become a singular award in higher education, honors Michigan women who have distinguished themselves by providing outstanding leadership to women in their institutions, in their profession and in society at large. The award recognizes groundbreaking work on behalf of women that is outside the scope of the nominee's formal faculty or staff responsibilities. Honorees have distinguished themselves as advocates for women and catalysts for change.

Honorees are chosen from nominations made by the presidents or chief operating officers of member colleges and universities throughout the state early each calendar year. The Michigan ACE Network presently includes 45 member institutions, public and private, 2 and 4 year. A rigorous nomination process is followed by a judging panel of members of the ACE Network board who represent a variety of institutions across the state. The honoree and her institution are notified of the award in late spring and the honor is presented at the major annual conference of the association, held annually in June of each year.

Michigan Distinguished Woman in Higher Education Leadership Award
Criteria, Selection Process, & Submission Guidelines

2008 Sample Letter
(to University and College Presidents Soliciting Nominations for the Distinguished Woman in Higher Education Leadership Award)

Past Honorees & Biographies