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St. Olaf College honors Hepburn, Mather with Hilleboe Award for Involvement in Student Life

kla
June 18, 2001

NORTHFIELD, Minn. ? St. Olaf College faculty members Joan Hepburn and Clare Mather have been named recipients of the college?s annual Gertrude Hilleboe Award for Faculty Involvement in Student Life.

Hepburn and Mather recently received plaques commemorating the honor, and their names were added to a plaque that lists all Hilleboe Award recipients.

The two were nominated earlier this year by staff members in the college?s Division of Student Life, and their names were approved by a staff development committee.

The Gertrude Hilleboe Award for Faculty Involvement in Student Life is given in honor of Gertrude Hilleboe?s dedication to St. Olaf College. Hilleboe was a faculty member and dean of women at St. Olaf for more than four decades, and her genuine interest in every student she met was well-known.

Hepburn is an assistant professor of English and has been a faculty member since 1987. An advocate of greater faculty involvement in student life, she is the founder and advisor for the Women of Color Support Group. In the last four years she has engaged students in many experiential learning activities, taking students to the Million Woman March in Philadelphia, the National Commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr. and the National Women?s Leadership Conference.

She has led off-campus study programs in South Africa and New York City.

Mather, a St. Olaf faculty member since 1990, is associate professor of French and associate dean of students. In her nominator?s words, Mather "has been a thoughtful presence in the Dean of Students Office. (Her) life experiences have added a rich dimension to every discussion and problem-solving opportunity. Mather?s care and concern for students, in and out of the classroom, is evident in her day-to-day work."

St. Olaf College prepares students to become responsible citizens of the world, fostering development of mind, body and spirit. A four-year, coeducational liberal arts college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), St. Olaf has a student enrollment of 2,950 and a full-time faculty complement of approximately 300. It is one of Money Guide?s top 100 "elite values in college education today," and it leads the nation?s colleges in percentage of students who study abroad.

Contact Michael Cooper at 507-786-3315 or cooperm@stolaf.edu.