The Susan McGee Bailey Research Scholar
“Acknowledging and drawing upon women’s strengths is a global imperative. Lasting social progress can be made only by placing the diverse perspectives of women at the center of inquiry and debate.”
Executive Director, Wellesley Centers for Women
Professor of Women's and Gender Studies and Education
Wellesley College, Class 1963
Program Background
In response to the need, and as a means of honoring Dr. Bailey’s work during the WCW 35th Anniversary year, the Wellesley Centers for Women established The Susan McGee Bailey Women’s Perspectives Fund to provide ongoing support for groundbreaking research and programming designed with women’s perspectives at the center. The income generated by the endowed fund will be used to establish the position of a Susan McGee Bailey Research Scholar in perpetuity at WCW.
The position of the Susan McGee Bailey Research Scholar will be awarded on a rotating basis to WCW staff or to an outside scholar brought in for the duration of the award, and would extend for a term of not less than one year, and not more than three. Revenue from the fund will be awarded in the form of salary and collateral support for the named scholar as an acknowledgement of the quality, potential, and influence of that individual’s work on behalf of women and girls. The award decision will be at the discretion of the current WCW Executive Director, in consultation with a small committee of her/his choosing, representing senior staff of the Centers and, on occasion, outside experts in a relevant area of research.
Criteria to be taken into consideration will include the degree to which the proposed work places women’s perspectives at the starting point of the research, as well as the ways in which the scholar’s work addresses the critical issues growing out of a global understanding of the lives of women, and the recognition of the importance of the linkages and new insights inherent in an interdisciplinary approach. This award may be made to support research that represents further exploration of work already underway on a groundbreaking topic, or serve as a means to encourage new, exciting areas of inquiry.
Recipients:
2011-2012: Rangita de Silva-de Alwis, S.J.D.
2012-2013: Linda Charmaraman, Ph.D.
2013-2014: Sumru Erkut, Ph.D
2014-2015: Nan Stein, Ed.D.
2015-2016: Peggy McIntosh, Ph.D.
2016-2018: Jennifer M. Grossman, Ph.D.
2018-2019: Linda M. Williams, Ph.D.
2019-2020: Autumn R. Green, Ph.D.