The Center for the Education of Women is seeking nominations for three awards honoring the legacies of three important women in university history: Carol Hollenshead, Sarah Goddard Power, and Rhetaugh G. Dumas.

These awards, previously separated, are now combined and called the CEW Inspire Awards. Recipients of the awards will embody the spirit and courage, tenacity and innovation of these esteemed leaders. Nominations will be accepted in one application.

The deadline for all award applications is Oct. 27. Recipients will be recognized at an award ceremony in February 2026, where they will be asked to give a short presentation about the impact of their work.

During Carol Hollenshead’s 20-year tenure at CEW she established the Center as a foundational component of the University of Michigan, with a particular interest in broadening a lens that often did not include non-traditional students. Her vision created opportunities and support for those whose path to the university was often derailed by life responsibilities or economic barriers. A named award for Hollenshead was created to honor her after she retired in 2008.

The Sarah Goddard Power and Rhetaugh G. Dumas awards were traditionally presented by the Academic Women’s Caucus, which is no longer active. To honor the legacies of Goddard Power and Dumas, CEW has administered these awards since 2018.

Members of the Academic Women’s Caucus lobbied for the hire and promotion of top female administrators, equitable salaries for female faculty, and anti-discrimination policies within the university. Prior to its official formation in the summer of 1975, women faculty and staff who would eventually make up the caucus fought for equal rights, among such other issues as making the role of women faculty more visible.

Supported by the offices of Human Resources and Institutional Equity, its charge was to “develop an inclusive organization of all academic women and men of the Ann Arbor, Dearborn and Flint campuses of the University of Michigan … to serve as forum for the exchange of information about the status of academic women at the University and as a focus necessary to the investigation and resolution of their special concern.”

Sarah Goddard Power was a major contributor to the advancement of higher education, an advocate for affirmative action and human rights, and a champion of freedom for the international press. A U-M regent for more than 12 years, she worked to advance the position of women and minorities in faculty and administrative roles.

Rhetaugh G. Dumas, a vice provost emerita, was an esteemed leader with vision, insight and wise counsel who had a significant impact on the advancement of nursing, healthcare and academic programs at U-M.  

Dumas was the first African American woman to serve as a dean at U-M when she was appointed to that role at the School of Nursing in 1981. She remained dean until 1994, when she was named the inaugural vice provost for health affairs and the Lucille Cole Professor of Nursing.

All three award amounts are $1,000. Eligible applicants for the Hollenshead award include faculty, staff, postdoctoral researchers, research fellows and students who will be enrolled or employed at any U-M campus during the 2025-26 academic year. The Goddard Power and Dumas awards are open to faculty on all three campuses.

Nominations for all three awards will be considered based on one or all of the following criteria:

• A demonstrated, sustained effort across an academic or administrative career that has resulted in greater equity regarding gender, race, class, age, disability, gender identity or sexual orientation at U-M or beyond.
• Significant achievement in contributing to the advancement of higher education as it pertains to human rights.
• Significant contributions to staff and faculty success in academic programs by using one’s position to serve as an advocate, mentor, and/or champion for those in positions of lesser power.

Email CEWinspire@umich.edu with questions.