Professors Karen Alter and Leslie Harris honored with the Provost Award for Exemplary Service for advocacy for women faculty

Karen Alter, the Norman Dwight Harris Professor of International Relations and professor of political science, and Leslie Harris, professor of history, are faculty members at Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and co-chairs of the Organization of Women Faculty (OWF).

They are being recognized for providing an effective voice for women faculty during the 2020-2021 academic year, a time of unprecedented disruption and difficulty.

Alter and Harris implemented OWF’s survey of women faculty and gathered data on the pandemic’s impact — especially on caregivers and faculty of color. They advocated on behalf of women faculty, with attention to both short-term and long-term impacts and the need to center equity.

The survey provided the basis for OWF’s report on issues that Northwestern could address. Provost Kathleen Hagerty later created a working group to recommend policies, programs and grants to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on faculty.

Past OWF co-chair Dana Hill, formerly clinical professor of law at Pritzker School of Law, also will be recognized. OWF represents tenure-track and non-tenure-eligible women faculty in all schools except Feinberg, which has its own organization.