TWU
Home > Marketing
& Communication > News
Releases
TWU
announces 2008 distinguished alumni
4/07/08
DENTON —
Three women with distinctive careers in higher education have
been named as the 2008 Distinguished Alumni by Texas Woman’s
University and the TWU Former Students Association.
Dr. Anita Cowan,
TWU associate professor emerita in sociology and social work;
Dr. Darlene A. Kluka, professor in the Department of Biokinetics,
Sports and Leisure Sciences at the University of Pretoria
in South Africa; and Dr. Sally A. Roden, associate provost
and dean of undergraduate studies for the University of Central
Arkansas, will be recognized at the Distinguished Alumni Awards
Luncheon on April 26.
The luncheon will
be held at 11:30 a.m. in the Southeast Ballroom of Hubbard
Hall. Tickets are $25. For more information or tickets, call
the TWU Office of Alumni Relations at (940) 898-2586 or visit
www.twu.edu/alum.
Dr. Anita
Cowan
Dr. Cowan taught in TWU’s Department of Sociology and
Social Work for more than 30 years before retiring as an associate
professor emerita in 2003. She graduated from TWU in 1962
with a bachelor’s degree in sociology. She received
her MSW from Columbia University and a master’s in anthropology
and a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology from Southern Methodist
University.
During her tenure
at TWU, Dr. Cowan served as the director of the TWU social
work program in addition to her varied teaching duties. She
taught summer international courses in Mexico and led more
than 70 class-related field trips to sites in Texas, Oklahoma
and Mexico. Dr. Cowan’s research conducted in Mexico
led to the creation of a team-taught course on societies in
development and a weekend course on the anthropology of immigration.
Her study of and interaction with Native Americans and volunteer
activities with the Dallas Intertribal Clinic provided experiential
support for a course on Native Americans in Contemporary Society
at TWU, which Dr. Cowan developed and taught for 30 years.
Dr. Cowan is a
leader in the development of undergraduate social work education
and has served as a consultant to other social work programs
including as a site visitor for re-accreditation. She served
two terms as the president of the Texas Association of Social
Work Educators and was an officer in the national Association
of Baccalaureate Social Work Program Directors for 12 years.
She also has been recognized by the Denton chapter of the
National Association of Social Workers with the Social Worker
of the Year Award and with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
“Being named
a Distinguished Alumni of TWU is a culmination of the good
fortune I have received from the university, including a legacy
of family loyalty to the school, the skills of the outstanding
teachers and administrators who entrusted an education to
me during my undergraduate years, and, finally, the opportunity
to be among the faculty for more than three decades,”
Dr. Cowan said. “I dedicate this honor to my family,
former teachers and classmates, and to the generations of
students who shared with me the belief that graduation from
this great university is a process that goes on until the
last days of our lives.”
Dr. Darlene
A. Kluka
Dr. Kluka is recognized
as an international scholar who has devoted her life to advancing
the role of women in sport and promoting women’s empowerment
through sport. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s
degrees from Illinois State University in health and physical
education/athletic administration and her Ph.D. in physical
education-motor learning from TWU in 1985.
Dr. Kluka currently
is completing work on a second doctorate in sport management
at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. She also is a
professor in UP’s Department of Biokinetics, Sports
and Leisure Sciences, where she is the first woman to be named
as an “Extraordinary Professor.” She has been
professor and director of the Global Center for Social Change
through Women’s Leadership and Sport at Kennesaw State
University in Georgia, and has held teaching positions at
Grambling State University and the University of Central Oklahoma.
Dr. Kluka is active
in many professional associations at the state, regional,
national and international levels. She currently serves as
the president of the International Association of Sport and
Physical Education for Girls and Women, as the editorial board
chair of the International Council of Sport Science and Physical
Education and as the editor of Women, Sport, and Physical
Activity Journal.
A prolific writer,
Dr. Kluka has written two textbooks, edited or co-edited five
books and written chapters in eight textbooks. She also has
published more than 100 articles in reference journals and
has presented more than 300 professional papers on five continents.
Her many accomplishments have been recognized by numerous
awards nationally and internationally, including being named
the first recipient of the Distinguished Scholar in Sport
and Olympic Movement Award given by the International Council
for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, Sport and Dance.
She also has received the Distinguished Scholar Award from
the American Association of University Professors and an Outstanding
Achievement Award from the Illinois State University Alumnae
Association.
“I have been
blessed with receiving several awards during my career, but
this one touches me most deeply,” Dr. Kluka said. “Texas
Woman’s University played a large role in my professional
development. The caliber of its faculty, staff and graduates
is extraordinary. The professors in the Department of Kinesiology,
in particular, demanded only the best from their doctoral
students. As a result, graduates are in leadership positions
across the world.”
Dr. Sally
A. Roden
Dr. Roden has been
involved in teaching and administration at the junior high
and university levels for nearly 50 years. Since 1969, she
has been at the University of Central Arkansas, where she
currently serves as associate provost and dean of undergraduate
studies and director of the living and learning communities
program. She graduated from TWU in 1960 with a bachelor’s
degree in speech and drama/history. She received her master’s
and an Ed.D. degree from the University of North Texas.
At UCA, Dr. Roden
has been honored with the Diversity Award by the African American
Alumni Association; with the Outstanding and Devoted Professor
Award by the Alpha Sigma Alpha Sorority; and as the Faculty
Favorite of UCA Students. Under her leadership as the director
of forensics, her students captured 160 trophies.
Dr. Roden has been
a leader in her professional associations and has been the
recipient of many honors, including the Arkansas Speech Teacher
of the Year, the National Academic Advising Association Outstanding
Institutional Advising Program Award and the Noel-Levitz Excellence
Retention Award. She also has received the Outstanding First-Year
Advocate Award — a national award given to the 10 American
higher educators who have done the most outstanding work in
improving the success of new students on their respective
campuses by the National Center for the Freshman Year Experience
and Students in Transition.
Dr. Roden is credited
with being the guiding force at her institution for three
decades for all major institution-wide initiatives to improve
student success. As an expert in the area of retention, she
serves on the Task Force on Higher Education Remediation,
Retention and Graduation Rates for the State of Arkansas.
“My years
at TWU gave me the foundation and background which have supported
my career achievements and successes,” Dr. Roden said.
“I am honored to have been named a Distinguished Alumni
by the institution that has given me so much.”
###
Media Contact:
Amanda Simpson
Director of News and Information
Tel: (940) 898-3456
e-mail: asimpson1@twu.edu |
