By Estela Hernandez, public relations and events specialist, Office for Equity and Diversity

Harriet Hopf, professor of anesthesiology and bioengineering for the School of Medicine and senior special assistant to the office for faculty, has been selected for the 2017 Linda K. Amos Award for Distinguished Service to Women. The award was presented to Hopf at the Women’s Week keynote performance on Wednesday, March 8.

Hopf was chosen for her consistency in fostering women’s growth and achievement, both within her academic department and campus wide. She arrived to the university in 2006 as a full professor, and according to her colleagues in the School of Medicine Academic Affairs, has greatly influenced the climate for women on the university campus.

As the director of faculty mentoring at the School of Medicine and the lead for the School of Medicine’s Women in Medicine and Science Program, she created a recurring seminar series and workshops through which she mentored faculty members. She’s also advised and mentored undergraduate and graduate level students through her American Women’s Medical Association and the Association of Future Female Physicians. Sandhya Ravichandran, a 2012 graduate of the U’s School of Medicine said “Dr. Hopf has been one of the most pivotal mentors during my medical education and training… She instills trust, achievement, and ambition in all of the women she has mentored over the years.”

In her role as associate dean for Academic Affairs, Hopf led the revision of the Faculty Appointment Review and Advancement (FARA) statement to include promotion and tenure policies that address the importance of mentoring, teaching and non-laboratory based research. These changes have national implications for academic health centers and their faculty in addressing the gaps in promotion and tenure, particularly for women.

Since 2011, Hopf has served on the University’s Athletics Advisory Council. She chaired the Gender and Equity Subcommittee and the full AAC 2014-16. Chris Hill, director of athletics for the U, said that “under her leadership we have been able to identify areas that need improvement and have put together a plan to address any shortcomings” in order to improve the experience of female student-athletes.  The plan includes improvements to: locker rooms, practice facilities, access to academic support and scholarships. Hopf is a former college athlete herself and is known to lead the cheers from the front row of sporting events, and for supporting the female athletes in their personal and academic development.

About the Linda K. Amos Award

The annual award recognizes a staff or faculty member who has selflessly given time and energy to improve the educational and/or working environment for women at the U. Furthermore, recipients represent the ideals and actions of Linda K. Amos, for whom the award is named. Amos was the founding chair of the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women and served as associate vice president of Health Sciences and the dean of the College of Nursing.  She is professor emerita of nursing.