Gift from CSHPE alumna Dr. Laura I. Rendón creates named dissertation finishing grant award
Through the generosity of Dr. Laura I. Rendón (PhD ’82), CSHPE is pleased to recognize the excellence of doctoral students in their final semester whose scholarship focuses on issues of equity and social justice.
The award bears the name of its benefactor, whose extensive career accomplishments were recently recognized by the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) with the prestigious ASHE Bowen Distinguished Career Award.
Dr. Rendón began her career in higher education in 1966 at Laredo Junior College. Her development of “validation theory” along with her book, Sentipensante (Sensing/Thinking) Pedagogy: Educating for Wholeness, Social Justice and Liberation, represent two scholarly contributions that transformed higher education scholarship on student development and teaching. Dr. Rendón served as president of ASHE from 1999-2000. Her scholarship and service to the field of higher education exemplify the career characteristics we seek to make possible for all CSHPE doctoral students.
Her inspiration for creating this award was born from Dr. Rendón’s desire to give back. She shared, “When I was just starting to apply for doctoral education opportunities, The University of Michigan opened its doors to me. This meant a great deal because I became the first in my family to enter a doctoral program. With this award, I seek to give back what UM gave to me and to provide opportunities for other students to complete their doctoral journeys and to make a significant impact in addressing equity and justice in higher education.”
Dr. Rendón ensured the impact of her gift by creating an endowment, which will serve to support students for years to come. On the selection of Selyna Beverly as the inaugural recipient, Dr. Rendón reacted, “Selyna Pérez Beverly is just the right person to receive this award. She is the model of the equity and justice scholar we need in this era. I love her attention to teaching and learning in engineering with special attention to women who remain underrepresented in STEM fields of study. Employing an intersectional approach that considers racism and sexism will advance engineering education research and practice and will be useful in preparing more women to succeed in this field of study.”