KU Women’s Hall of Fame to induct six new members

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Six new members are set to join the Kansas University Women’s Hall of Fame on Tuesday evening.

All six are KU alumni or faculty who’ve served as leaders. The members of the Hall of Fame’s 2013 class are:

• Janet Sommer Campbell, general manager of Kansas Public Radio and director of Kansas Audio-Reader. She earned a bachelor’s degree in education from KU in 1979.

• Cathy Daicoff, managing director and U.S. public finance criteria officer for Standard & Poor’s Rating Services. She earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from KU in 1977, followed by a master’s degree in public administration and finance from Syracuse University.

• Kathleen Davis, assistant professor at the KU Medical Center and director of the KU Kids Healing Place. She has bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from KU, and she helped found the Kids Healing Place, a program for children with chronic or terminal illnesses and their families.

• Sara Thomas Rosen, KU’s senior vice provost for academic affairs. She joined KU in 1991 and has served as a professor of linguistics, chairwoman of the linguistics department and dean of graduate studies. In her current position she oversees KU’s academic programs, and she continues to teach and conduct research on linguistics.

• Donna E. Sweet, professor of internal medicine at the KU School of Medicine’s Wichita campus. She earned her medical degree from KU in 1979, and she created the Sweet Emergency Fund to help people with HIV with medications and daily needs.

• Kathyrn Vratil, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for Kansas. She earned a bachelor’s degree from KU in 1971 and a KU law degree in 1975. She worked as an attorney before becoming a municipal judge for the city of Prairie Village and in 1992 became the first woman appointed to the U.S. District Court for Kansas. She became chief judge in 2008.

The KU Women’s Hall of Fame was created in 1970, and it sits on the fifth floor of the Kansas Union. The inductees will be honored Tuesday evening at the annual Women’s Recognition Banquet sponsored by KU’s Emily Taylor Center for Women and Gender Equity.

Three faculty and staff members will also be honored with annual awards: Outstanding Woman Educator for Andrea Greenhoot, associate professor of psychology; Outstanding Woman Staff Member for Sharon Leatherman, office manager for the KU Memorial Unions; and the Kathleen McCluskey-Fawcett Woman Mentoring Women Award for Jennifer Roberts, associate professor of geology.

Also to be honored for their achievements Tuesday are 26 female students.