Since 1994, the Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies (WGSS) Program has annually recognized a woman on campus who has made an outstanding contribution to women’s issues. Founding directors Johanna Garvey, PhD, associate professor of English, and Lucy Katz, PhD, professor emeritus for whom the award was renamed in 2007, believe such recognition advances the understanding and promotion of women’s issues on campus. 

“We have so many dedicated individuals who work tirelessly in the collective pursuit of academic excellence,” said Olivia Harriott, PhD, associate professor of biology, in her remarks at the award ceremony that was held over Zoom this past week. “Mary — you are one of those individuals. The WGSS Lucy Katz Award affords us the opportunity to acknowledge outstanding service at the University and the award also helps to illuminate the important work performed by women.”

Honoree Mary Kleps came to Fairfield University in 1995 and has been the instructional support manager for academic computing in the Information Technology Services (ITS) Department since 2000. Klep’s role in this capacity is to support online teaching and learning; when the pandemic hit last year, the entire tech team’s responsibilities increased. 

“Academic Computing/ITS and the CAE [Center for Academic Excellence] rose to the occasion,” Dr. Harriott continued in her remarks, “sponsoring several workshops and mobilizing staff and technology resources to make sure instructors and students were equipped with the tools they needed to teach and learn. Mary — we respect you, we admire you, and we hope you are taking this moment to fully feel our embrace, because today you are being honored.  Thank you, for all you’ve done to help us all serve our students. Congratulations!”