President Mary Sue Coleman will receive the 2004 Women in Leadership Award from the Business School. The event, sponsored by the Women in Business Initiative and Michigan Business Women, is at 4 p.m. April 14 in the Business School’s Hale Auditorium.

The award, presented annually since 1993, recognizes the achievements of outstanding women leaders in promoting the success of women.

“She’s a woman we admire, for her outstanding leadership and support toward women in senior positions,” says Michelle Adams, marketing coordinator in the dean’s office.

The selection committee took into account numerous factors, including Coleman’s leadership role in the University’s defense of two affirmative action cases last year, Adams says. The committee also looked at Coleman’s prominence in the national scene, such as her recent inclusion on Newsweek’s “Who’s Next 2004” list as “a new campus crusader.”

Michigan is the only leading business school to have such an award. Past recipients include Madeleine Albright, former U.S. Secretary of State; Kay Koplovitz, CEO of Working Women Network; and Connie Duckworth, managing director and partner at Goldman, Sachs & Co.

The Women in Business Initiative is an organization at the Business School that focuses on recruiting women to Michigan, creating a welcoming environment for female students, and reaching out to alumnae to support their careers through networking and resources. Michigan Business Women promotes students’ personal and professional development by providing networking and social interaction opportunities with Business School undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, administrators, and alumni, as well as professional women in the business community.

For more information, visit http://www.womeninbusiness.bus.umich.edu/ or contact Adams at (734) 647-9801 or mladams@umich.edu.