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| * Purdue College of Consumer and Family Sciences |
March 12, 2008
Felker series pays tribute to women leaders of past, present, future
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Collectors of Longaberger merchandise will have the chance to hear more about the business behind the baskets during a leadership conference at Purdue University on April 11.The 2008 Felker Leadership Series will use the theme Women in Leadership: Honoring the Past, Inspiring the Future to pay tribute to outstanding women leaders.
A registration and coffee hour is scheduled from 8-9 a.m. in Stewart Center, Room 218. The program will begin at 9 a.m. with a video welcome from Purdue President France A. Córdova and will be followed by a luncheon from noon to 1:30 p.m.
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Tami Longaberger, of The Longaberger Co., will discuss her role at the basket and home and lifestyle products business. Since 1999 she has led the 3,000-person organization through product diversification, facilities expansion and new technologies. In May 2005 President George Bush appointed Longaberger as chair of the National Women's Business Council, a bipartisan federal advisory council created to advise and recommend policy to the president, Congress and the U.S. Small Business Administration on economic issues important to women business owners. In 2004 she served as a member of the U.S. delegation to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.
Dennis Savaiano, dean of Purdue's College of Consumer and Family Sciences, said the series will provide an important link between the college's past, present and future.
"The Felker Leadership Series was created in 1993 to honor Donald W. Felker, a former dean of our college who championed leadership opportunities for women," Savaiano said. "We are pleased to present a forum this year that showcases both the pioneers of the equality movement and the women who continue to represent consumer and family sciences in the global economy."
Other speakers will include:
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* Sally Brown, founder and president of Ambassadors for Children in Indianapolis. The nonprofit organization provides travel experiences and global volunteer opportunities to help children in need around the world. Brown started in the travel industry more than 30 years ago as a flight attendant with Ambassadair Travel Club and worked her way up to company president and CEO. Since its founding in 1998, Ambassadors for Children has assisted more than 100,000 children worldwide and distributed more than $5 million in aid. Brown earned her doctorate from Purdue in 2005.
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* Joyce Beery Miles, a 1965 alumna, will provide a glimpse into the life of Ellen Swallow Richards (1842–1911), one of the first women in science and a leader in the home economics movement 100 years ago. As part of the 100th anniversary celebration of the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences, Miles is traveling the country to bring Richards' legacy to life through a one-woman stage dramatization. Wearing clothes of the period, she portrays Richards as a student at Vassar College and MIT, as a chemist in the lab, and during the last decade of her professional life.
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* Fred Whitford will recount the contributions of Virginia Claypool Meredith (1848–1936), the first woman appointed to the Purdue University board of trustees and a driving force in the creation of the Department of Household Economics in 1905. An advocate for professional and educational equity for women, Meredith helped shape university policies to break down the barriers that existed at the time. Whitford, coordinator of Purdue Pesticide Programs, has written a book about Meredith, titled "The Queen of American Agriculture: A Biography of Virginia Claypool Meredith," due to be published in April.
The cost to attend the Felker Series and luncheon is $40 per person. The cost to attend the program without lunch is $30. Registration with payment is required by April 1. For more information or to register, call Consumer and Family Sciences Development and Alumni Relations at (800) 535-7303 or (765) 494-7890 or e-mail cfsalums@purdue.edu .Writer: Tanya Brown, (765) 494-2079, tanyabrown@purdue.edu
Source: Dennis Savaiano, (765) 494-8213, savaiano@purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
Note to Journalists: Journalists planning to cover the leadership series should contact Tanya Brown, Purdue University News Service, at (765) 494-2079, tanyabrown@purdue.edu
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