UMSL names 2008 Women Trailblazers

Five women were presented with Trailblazer Awards in a March 12 ceremony at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

The Women Trailblazers ceremony recognizes UMSL women who have "blazed a trail" for women by being the first to occupy positions traditionally held by men, who were trailblazers in their fields or who have made noteworthy contributions to the university and/or their profession. The ceremony has been an annual event during Women's History Month since 1995.

This year's theme "Women's Art: Women's Vision" honored the multiple dimensions of women's lives. The 2008 recipients are:

Abigail Birhanu -A graduate of UMSL's Pierre Laclede Honors College, Birhanu received the 2007 Visionary Awards-Emerging Artist award recognizing St. Louis women who have been instrumental in helping advance the arts.

Antoinette Dickens - A UMSL student, Dickens has contributed significantly to UMSL through her leadership roles in several campus organizations and has been inducted into two national honor societies. She is currently president of the Associated Black Collegians, vice president of Sistakeeper and vice president of Ad Corps.

Sally Barr Ebest -Among her many accomplishments, Ebest was recognized for her work with teaching assistants, designing a TA training program, holding the first campus-wide conference for them and developing the campus' first graduate Certificate in University Teaching. She has written on gender differences illustrating the institutional and collegial prejudices faced by female administrators.

Edna Campos Gravenhorst -A native of Mexico, Gravenhorst was named an honorary national member of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers for her book, "Ay, Mija! Why do you want to be an engineer?" Her contributions to UMSL include her board membership on The Center for the Humanities Community, the Chancellor's Cultural Diversity Initiative and Gallery Visio.

Zuleyma Tang Martinez -A native of Venezuela, Tang Martinez has earned many "firsts" in her more than 30 years of teaching at UMSL. She was the first woman and first Latina to receive tenure promotion to full professor in the Department of Biology . She served as president of the Animal Behavior Society and chair of the division of animal behavior of the American Society of Zoologists. Among her many awards is the St. Louis Educational Equity Award for Higher Education from the St. Louis Educational Equity Coalition and the 2007 Exceptional Service Award from the Animal Behavior Society.

A special Renaissance Trailblazer Award was presented to Cheryl D. S. Walker, chair of the Board of Curators of the University of Missouri System who was the keynote speaker. An engineer and attorney, Walker is currently president and general counsel of Obasi Enterprises, LLC.

She formerly served as a counsel in the St. Louis office of Bryan Cave LLP, an 850-attorney international law firm that provides counsel in various areas of commercial law, and she remains Of Counsel for the firm. Walker is a member of the Tower Grove Park Board of Commissioners. She also is a board member for The Newberry Group, St. Louis Social Venture Partners and The United Way of Greater St. Louis. Walker is a published poet.

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