Two Women of Note: Sachelle Ford and Carolyn Cole

We introduce you to two Women of Note, students in the Emory community of outstanding women.

"Sachelle Ford is originally from Kingston Jamaica, and came to Atlanta by way of Jacksonville, Florida. Until very recently, her mother worked at Emory, and Sachelle has wanted to attend the University since she was in 7th grade. She graduated in 2008 with a major in English.

Her most formative experience at Emory was a course in Women’s Studies at Oxford, when her eyes were opened to how theory is applied in practice, and how service to others can be that application. Her first course included an experience teaching English to immigrant women, and she began to see the power of the connections between community and education. While at Oxford, she also participated in a project with I Care, working for a week with a family in need after Hurricane Katrina. At Emory she has worked in the Center for Women, been a member of the President’s Commission on the Status of Women, co-directed a production of the Vagina Monologues, been an RA in Campus Life, and earned the prestigious Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship. She says that Emory provides its students with many opportunities to give back that other campuses lack, and she sees this as a privilege.

Commencement will be bittersweet for her, as she sets her sights on Fall 2008 as a Ph.D. student in English at Brown, where she will study to be a teacher.

Carolyn Cole is from the Philippines and was evacuated at age 4 due to a volcano. Her family moved to Denver, where she discovered Emory through a high school friend who selected the University. Carolyn was drawn to Emory for its beauty and reputation, and she wanted to experience the South and the diversity of Atlanta. She will graduate in ‘09 with a double major in International Studies and Sociology. Carolyn received the 2008 Leadership and Service Delores P. Aldridge Excellence Award, named for Emory's first African American professor and founder of the African American Studies Program at Emory University.

Carolyn’s most formative experience at Emory was participation in multicultural community building projects, especially the Sustained Dialogue Program. She plans to study abroad in Africa this summer, and hopes this experience will help reveal her next steps, perhaps some work in Washington D.C. after graduating. Right now, she plans to earn a Ph.D. in Sociology and teach, as this is where she sees change occurring. Her observations of excellence at Emory include its place in the larger community of Atlanta, where there is a solid multicultural presence and a significant black community, as well as its active, service-oriented presence as a University that is academically rigorous.

Two Women of Note: Ruby Childers and Laura Owen

Meet Ruby Childers, Crew leader and Laura Owen, Groundskeeper in the Landscape/Hardscape division of Facilities Maintenance.

Ruby has been at Emory eighteen years, Laura for seven years. Laura affectionately calls Ruby "mama," and you will almost always find them working together as a team.

Ruby says she loves to come to work, that being outside and digging in the dirt give her great joy. She says that she is constantly rewarded for her efforts, by the beauty of the landscape she contributes to, and by the glowing comments shared by staff and students alike.

Laura is happiest when outside, and describes her job as a unique opportunity to give back to the university where her father is alumnus, and to spend time on the grounds of Glenn Church, which she attended as a child. She sees the campus as a learning lab where she is asked to experiment with plants and their environments, and she is anxious to work on any project that will improve the quality of life for wildlife at Peavine Creek.

Ruby and Laura share a passion for the outdoors, including hiking, camping, fishing and bicycling. They also share a passion for Dachshunds. It's clear from their teamwork, their shared joy when they are in nature, and their collaboration in landscaping and contributing to the beauty of our campus, that they are worthy members of the Emory Community, and two special Emory Women of Note.

A Woman of Note: Haley Rosengarten

Meet Haley Rosengarten, who has headed off to her first post-graduate job as a sports marketer. Haley came to Emory as a second year transfer student, from Bucknell University in Pennsylvania, where she had spent her Freshman year on a hockey scholarship. She had distinguished herself as an athlete at the JCC Maccabi Games (http://jccmaccabigames.org/), an Olympic style athletic competition for Jewish teens from around the world. After a shoulder injury limited her hockey career, she transferred to Emory, where she has distinguished herself as a leader in the community as co-president of Hillel, as an orientation captain for transfer students, and as an organizer and creator of a new square for Aids Quilt on the Quad day.

Haley attributes her tenacity to her mother’s demonstration of the same determination to have a career that would support her three daughters. One of Haley’s earliest memories is of her mother’s graduation from law school. As a matter of fact, Haley’s two older sisters are graduating themselves from law and graduate schools this year – there’s a lot of graduating going on in this family.
One of Haley’s finest awards during her time at Emory is the 2007 Humanitarian Award. Students are nominated for the Humanitarian Award by peers and faculty members for: demonstrating honesty, integrity, responsibility, and a sense of community; for special acts of courage and friendship; and for committing an unusual amount of time and energy in service to others. She proclaims her fondest memories at Emory are friends she has made here at Emory, the opportunities she has had to work with faculty in the American Studies program, her internships with the Atlanta Hawks and Pink Magazine, as well as her relationships with her sorority sisters in ADPI.
We send her off to embark on her new career as an Emory Woman of Note!

A Woman of Note: Jen Fabrick

Described by her peers as a purpose-driven leader, Jen Fabrick, Emory University Architect, is accustomed to being the only woman in the room. In a profession that is not only traditionally male, but also converges with industries that are primarily male, she spent her early career learning to hold her ground in order to be heard. Over the past 28 years, she has built her career around a philosophy of design for the common good and with a focus on contextual relationships, environment, and health consequences as well as quality and financial concerns. The fruits of her labor are both visible in the outstanding new facilities that continue to appear on our grounds, as well as invisible in the creation and enhancement of Emory's policies toward environmentally responsible planning and design. Since 1999, with the support of Bob Hascall, Vice President for Campus Servcies, she has developed design standards for new facilities and for renovations at Emory that meet very high professional standards for environmental stewardship, and that dictate the protection of those standards in future development projects.

In 1998, Jen Fabrick joined Emory as the University Architect, serving in Campus Services overseeing the programming, long range planning and design of the campus. Prior to joining Emory University, she was the Assistant Director of Design and Construction at the CDC, where she assisted in the development of the first museum of disease issues for public education, the "Global Health Odyssey." Her ten years prior experience as a practicing architect with Rosser International gave her the opportunity to develop expertise in the design of research buildings. Jen is intimately connected to the Winship Cancer Center. She not only participated in the planning design and execution of the project, but she became a frequent visitor to the building. As a 5 year cancer survivor, she talks about her life changing experience as a transforming period for her. "You become more selcetive about who you surround yourself with, and more focused on your legacies and not postponing things."

Jen sees Emory as her legacy, shaping its spaces for future generations. "I have the opportunity to set the stage for the future. I might never know how it turns out and I can't count on it being right, but I can hope."

A Woman of Note: Sally West

Dr. Sally West isn't an old-time doctor about to retire but a 1980 graduate
of Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons who came to Emory in 1984. She has inspired an unmatched dedication and
admiration in her patients. So, here, in the words of a few of them, is Sally West, a woman and physician of note.

" Dr. Sally West is the most dedicated overworked, professional physician my husband and I have encountered. Rain or shine, day or night, 'in sickness and in health,' Dr. West's caring demeanor has been available to us for the last twelve years. We are truly grateful and fortunate to have her as our primary care physician."-- Mary Ellen McClellan, Director, Procurement Services

" What makes Sally West very special is that she makes her patients feel very special...She walks with us through the maze that health care has become. She's gentle and affirming. She's in touch. She listens. She remembers. One would not be surprised to find her at their door carrying a small black doctor's bag. She practices old-fasioned medicine in a world-class environment. That's got to be a challenge. How lucky we are that she's at Emory. --Ali Crown, Director, Center for Women at Emory University.

"When you're in the examining room, you know that she is giving you her attention, so much so that you might imagine you are her only patient. She shares of herself, giving her a slight vulnerability that is somehow comforting. Her skill as a clinician and as an observer of all the things that make human being tick combine in a way that has restored my faith in doctoring."--Donna Bradley, Coordinator, Friends of the Libraries

A Woman of Note: Gabrielle Sirkin

Gabrielle Sirkin arrived at Emory University as a freshman in 2005 and a distinguished artist. During her senior year at the Westover School, Middlebury, CT, Gabrielle was honored with a Gold Portfolio Award in Photography from the Scholastic National Art and Writing Awards. Of the seven Gold Portfolio Award recipients in art and photography, Gabrielle was one of only two women to receive this honor.

Gabrielle’s award-winning photography portfolio is comprised of the re-staging of eight favorite cult films. Gabrielle staged each of the shots as a large format photograph, manipulating each detail, including poses, costumes, and lighting. The striking effects of patterns, textures, and shapes that are in each photograph were created through manipulation of the negative and printing process. To view Gabrielle’s Gold Award portfolio, please click here.

After winning the Gold Portfolio Award, Gabrielle’s work was displayed at the Diane von Furstenberg Gallery in New York and the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C. Despite Gabrielle’s success in a traditionally male-dominated field, she does not attribute her achievements to any political motivation, but rather to the support of her parents, her high school photography teacher, and the environment of her all girls’ boarding school.

Gabrielle Sirkin is also featured in the campus-wide art exhibition, “The Art of a Woman,” in celebration of women in the arts for National Women’s History Month.

A Woman of Note: Carol Miller

Carol Miller is known for her caring and compassionate personality. An accomplished manager of data services in Human Resources, Carol is the "go to" person regarding the new PeopleSoft module HR rolled out recently, and she's trained employees throughout the University in its use. While working full time, she studied at Candler School of Theology, graduated, and became an ordained minister. She uses her pastoral skills in many volunteer endeavors outside of Emory, including counseling, career advising, and volunteering in children's shelters.

More important to her colleagues, however, is the fact that Miller uses her skills to touch their lives as well. Last year, when one of her six employees was undergoing cancer treatment that later failed, Miller coordinated the funeral arrangements for the woman's family and conducted the services. When the husband of colleague Pat Douglass died, Miller coordinated and conducted his funeral service as well. "Had it not been for Carol's caring attention to detail, the memorial would not have been as comforting to me and my family," Douglass said, adding, "Carol always seems to know when someone needs a pat on the back or a hug or just an 'I understand.' She has a profound effect on many people."

A Woman of Note: Lois More Overbeck, PhD

As editor of the correspondence of Samuel Beckett, Lois More Overbeck has brought to Emory a publication project that could well be the most significant literary event of the twenty-first century. The Nobel Prize-winning author personally selected Overbeck and her colleague, Martha Fehsenfeld, to do the job, and from 1985 until his death in December 1989, Beckett met with them numerous times to facilitate the research. Soon Emory will be the center of significant scholarly world attention as Cambridge University Press publishes a series of four volumes over the next several years based on their work.

Overbeck’s greatest contribution, perhaps, has been to provide opportunities for more than one hundred graduate and undergraduate students to be substantially involved in her work. "To work on this project has been an enormous privilege,” says Overbeck. “The involvement and support of Emory colleagues across all disciplines and the enthusiastic engagement of Emory students in the project is a daily reminder that the life of the mind is a collaborative enterprise and that a university is a concourse for the world."

Overbeck also has served as dramaturg and consultant on numerous Beckett productions in and around Atlanta and is currently overseeing worldwide preparations for the writer’s centenary year, 2006. Throughout it all, she continues to teach and mentor and to encourage the "life of the mind" in students and colleagues alike, with a contagious passion.

A Woman of Note: Sue Glover

One of the best aspects of working at an academic medical center is seeing how the teaching and research done here translate to the real world and how, more often than not, those who teach actually do much good in the world as well. No one exemplifies this better than Sue Glover, a faculty member in the School of Medicine’s Department of Pediatrics specializing in microbiology. Glover is also associate director and cofounder of My House, a transitional home for babies and children—many of them medically fragile—with no one to care for them. My House has been lauded twice on the “Oprah Winfrey Show.”

Noted for her quiet leadership and humble spirit, Glover says that the smiles and well-being of the children she serves are the greatest evidence of success of the program she founded with fellow faculty member Donna Carson in 1999. “Sue’s passion for making the world a better place for the little ones we care for permeates all that she does,” says Carson, My House executive director. “She has given so much behind the scenes that has made possible so very much good.”

After a thirty-year career as a university administrator and teacher—more than half of that spent at Emory—Glover considers My House her greatest accomplishment. More than 100 children have passed through its doors, most of them now adopted. “At My House we see miracles occur every day,” she says.

A Woman of Note: Emilia Navarro

Professor Emerita Emilia Navarro (left) with Professor Martine Brownley in the William L. Matheson Reading Room of Candler Library.

Emerita Professor of Spanish Emilia Navarro was a pioneer throughout her career. She was the first woman to chair an Emory College department—the Romance Languages Department, as it was called then—and a champion of women in the university community.

Her friend and colleague Martine Brownley, Goodrich C. White Professor of English, says of Professor Navarro, “She was the most lucid of literary and political analysts, and a powerful and tireless fighter for the rights of people that everyone else overlooked.”

Charles Howard Candler Professor of Educational Studies Carole Hahn is a longtime friend, as well. “As a member of the University Senate, Emilia stood out as an advocate for equal benefits as well as other issues that affected women. When she was department head, she was feisty and well-respected,” Hahn said, adding, “She has always been a lot of fun and has a heart of gold.”

A Woman of Note: Julie Zinamon

Julie Zinamon is a journalist with heart, and a communicator to the core. Her love for communication is already evident in her impressive resume, which covers both broadcast and print journalism in English and Spanish-language media. Her previous work with CBS46 Atlanta, Jezebel Magazine, Emory Wheel, and Party City Corporation includes writing, producing, editing, and translating, and her current position with CNN International, combines all of these roles. The winner of the Center for Women’s Student Advocacy Committee writing contest, Zinamon is also a talented poet. (Click here to read Zinamon's winning entry.)

A member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, Zinamon holds a 3.7 GPA. She perfected her Spanish skills last summer when she joined the Emory Iberian Studies Program, taking two classes and working on an independent project. Her project compared the Spanish media’s portrayal of the United States after the bombings in Madrid with U.S. coverage of the attack.

Set to graduate in May, Zinamon hopes to find a job working in broadcast journalism or publishing in New York. She says that her “dream would be to write a book and get published-it would really only have to be one book to make me happy.”

A Woman of Note: Mary Ellen Gordon

Mary Ellen Gordon first picked up a tennis racket when she was seven years old. "I put in a lot of hours, but it's easy when you love what you do and you have fun doing it," she said. Now set to graduate from Emory with a major in business, this six-time All-American has distinguished herself singularly at Emory and nationally, establishing records in both singles and doubles play.

Gordon holds the all-time Emory record as of 2003 for career singles wins at 89, career singles win percentage (.873). She was the only Division III women's player invited to travel to Japan in 2003 as part of the ITA All-Star team. In January, she was named College Sportswoman of the Year by the Georgia Women's Intersport Network.

Gordon said she likes the team aspect of college tennis. "I feel lucky to be around such hardworking, fun teammates. It's rewarding to work hard all season and then see it all pay off in the end." A volunteer with EmoryREAD, a literacy program for elementary-age children, Gordon holds a 3.21 GPA. Tennis may or may not factor into her postgraduate plans, she said. "But hopefully I will always be involved in the game in some form."

A Woman of Note: Joyce Piatt

Joyce Piatt is on the front lines even before she takes her coat off in the morning. As building administrator for the Robert W. Woodruff Library (Emory’s main library) she oversees the operation of the 32,000 square-foot building with unstoppable cheer. Everything from workspace design to building maintenance is in her purview, and she works to maintain a comfortable environment for the library staff, visitors, faculty, and the hundreds of students who come to the library every day.

Joyce has worked in the Library Administrative Office for 30 years. She has been responsible for employment of student assistants, monitoring the library budget, procurement for supplies and equipment and much hand-holding during the many construction and renovation projects. In hindsight, Joyce said, “I wish I had majored in construction management or mechanical engineering."

A Woman of Note: Angella Caldwell-Shaw

Angella Caldwell-Shaw likes variety—in her work, in the people she meets—you name it. As office manager in the Office of Student Services in the Rollins School of Public Health, she has a many-faceted job that she tackles with unending enthusiasm. During the past year she organized the school’s Commencement activities, coordinated the Global Field Experiences competition which sends public health students all over the world, and worked on the team that created a school display for the American Public Health Association’s national conference (to name just a few tasks), maintaining a great sense of humor all the while.

She has been at Rollins for three years, and looks forward to many more. What does she like best about her job? “Interacting with people,” she said, “people from all walks of life and from all over the globe.”

A Woman of Note: Mary Woods

Building Maintenance Mechanic
An Emory pioneer, Mary Woods was the first woman hired as a building mechanic in the Facilities Management Division. She began her career at Emory nine years ago as a custodian at the P.E. Center and became interested in learning how to fix things, mostly to save money on home repair. When a position as a building mechanic opened up, she approached her supervisor, Mark Kimbrough, who supported her interest. Although the DUC is her regular territory, she currently fills in for a departed senior mechanic at the P.E. Center. There she is responsible for maintaining the swimming pool as well as the electrical, plumbing, and HVAC systems, among many other duties. “When you’re working in a male dominated field, it’s kind of difficult at times being the only woman. But I just stand my ground,” she said with a laugh. “The best parts of the job, other than learning how to repair mechanical things, are giving good customer service—and my coworkers and supervisors.”

(November 2003)