Elga R. Wasserman Courage, Clarity, and Leadership Award

In 2021, The Women Faculty Forum initiated the “Elga R. Wasserman Courage, Clarity, and Leadership Award,” a new award to honor a Yale woman every year who has demonstrated tremendous courage, clarity, and leadership in their community service.

This award is named after Elga Ruth Wasserman, whose trailblazing career in the University’s administration and extraordinary advocacy on behalf of Yale women in the early years of coeducation continues to inspire future champions of gender equity and diversity in higher education.

“Wasserman worked as a research assistant and held part-time teaching appointments at Southern Connecticut State University and Quinnipiac College, and she also worked part-time in industry. In 1962 she became an assistant dean at the Yale Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, with responsibility for the physical and biological sciences. Brewster appointed her in 1969 as special assistant on the education of women and chair of the Committee on Coeducation, and Wasserman devoted the next four years to guiding Yale on its coeducational course, dealing with such issues as admissions criteria, housing, and various academic matters.” (Source).

The Wasserman Award recognizes the important contributions of women faculty and staff who are committed to building equity, diversity, and inclusion and have excelled in articulating and advancing the highest aspirations of the entire Yale community. In 2021, WFF was thrilled to present the inaugral Elga R. Wasserman Award to Dr. Stephanie Spangler.