Inspiring Women

Margaret (Maggi) L. Curry-Williams

--Appointed in 1976 to newly-created Director of Affirmative Action position
--Served as Assistant Dean of Student Affairs, Associate Vice-President for Student Services, Associate Dean of Students
--The Division of Student Services established the Maggi Curry-Williams Quiet Influence award in her honor 

Betty Diener

--First female dean, 1979
--Second female dean of accredited school of business in the country

Dorothy Doumar

--First female rector of the Board of Visitors, 1978
--Served on the Board of Visitors, 1972-1983 

Jo Ann Gora

--First female provost, 1992-2001
--First woman to serve as president for doctoral-granting school in Virginia: In 1995, she was acting president in Dr. Koch's absence.

Wendy Hildreth

Named first female athletic business manager, 1974.

Ruth Jones

Head of Office of Affirmative Action/Equal Employment Opportunity, 1981-1998

Kay Kemper

First female vice president (University Relations), 1992-1996

Karen Polonko

--First ODU faculty member to win the Outstanding Faculty Award* from the State Council on Higher Education in Virginia (SCHEV), 1991
--Named Virginia Professor of the Year by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), 1993

*Several other ODU women have received the Outstanding Faculty Award since 1991: Michele Darby(1993), Nancy Bazin (1994), Helen Rountree (1995), Dana Heller (1997), Christine Drake (1999), Janet Peery (2002), Sheri Reynolds (2003), Katharine Kersey and Cynthia Jones (2005), and Sharon Raver-Lampman (2006). Cynthia Jones also received the Virginia Professor of the Year award (2004).

Roseann Runte

First female president of the University, 2001-present

Samantha Salvia

--First Rhodes Scholar at Old Dominion University, 1995
--As a field hockey player, she was an Academic All-American and was named to the College Field Hockey Coaches Association All-American squad.

Anne Raymond Savage

--Faculty, 1971-2004 and "Mother of TELETECHNET"
--Director of Center for Instruction Development, 1978
--Director of Academic Television Services and Center for Instructional Services, 1984
--Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs, 1990-1999
--National University Administrator Award, 1998
--ODU Administrator of the Year Award, 1999
--Vice Provost of Distance Learning, 2001

Karen Scherberger

--Elected first female student body president, 1976
           --Jane Warriner was the first female president of the Student Senate, 1946

Margaret Simmons

First African-American student to earn a degree (M.A. English), 1966

Lucy Wilson

--1975-1995
--Associate Vice-President for Academic Affairs
--Associate Vice-President for Student Services
--Associate Dean for the College of Education

Helen Yura

--Faculty, 1979-1988 (Eminent Scholar)
--Hired to head the new Master's Program in Nursing, 1979
--ODU's Epsilon Chi Sponsored the Helen Yura-Petro Lectureship, which focuses on nursing research
--The Helen Yura Award for Excellence in Nursing is available to graduate students at ODU

Afroz Zaman

First full-time female faculty member in the College of Engineering, 1983

Fay Zetlin

--First artist-in-residence at ODU
--Worked on Norfolk's Diggs Park Playground and Green's Market project