Feb 24, 2011 – The University of Utah Presidential Commission on the Status of Women and the Women’s Week celebration committee announced today that Susan Olson, associate vice president for faculty and professor in political science at the University of Utah, has been named as the recipient of the 2011 Linda K. Amos Award for Distinguished Service to Women. The award recognizes a female staff or faculty member who has selflessly given time and energy to improve the educational and/or working environment for women at the university.

“The position she holds has made Susan Olson very well qualified and effective as an advocate for women’s issues at the highest levels of the university,” said Mary Anne Berzins, assistant vice president for Human Resources at the University of Utah and chair of the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women. “In the words of one of her many nominators, ‘Olson has worked tirelessly to change university policies in proactive ways, and is a strong, clear voice on behalf of women’s issues and female faculty on the university campus.'”

Olson was instrumental in developing the university policy for parental leave and successfully shepherded the proposal through the university’s academic senate and board of trustees. More recently, she has taken leadership in the development of the proposal for a part-time tenure track. She also helped to initiate a leadership development program for faculty and administrative women and men who have interest in being leaders within the university.

According to Patricia Murphy, professor in the College of Nursing and chair of the Linda K. Amos Award selection committee, the accolades from those who nominated Olson for this award are lengthy and best summarized by this quote: “Susan Olson is a skilled, dedicated, and enormously hard-working administrator, an advocate for faculty generally, and in particular an advocate for women and issues important to women, including women students, staff, faculty and other administrators.”

The Linda K. Amos award is sponsored by the Office for Equity and Diversity, the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women and the Women’s Week committee. Linda K. Amos, for whom the award was named, was the founding chair of the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women, a professor of nursing and served as dean of the College of Nursing and associate vice president for health sciences.

The 2011Women’s Week celebration at the University of Utah is sponsored by the Office for Equity and Diversity; co-sponsors include the College of Social Work, ASUU Presenters Office, the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women and University Marketing & Communications. Partners include, the Women’s Resource Center, the Hinckley Institute of Politics and the Utah Symphony. For more information about Women’s Week visit www.diversity.utah.edu/events/womensweek/2011, or call 801-581-4250.