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Carol Hollenshead: A Remarkable Leader, Mentor, and Staunch Advocate for Women

June 30, 2008, will mark the end of Carol Hollenshead's 20 years at the helm of the University of Michigan's Center for the Education of Women (CEW). Carol's leadership of this vital campus and community resource has been remarkably noteworthy. Needless to say, Carol will be leaving humungous shoes to fill.

Since Carol was appointed Director of CEW in 1988, the Center has undergone a name change (formerly Center for the Continuing Education of Women); has expanded its mission to advocate for women's issues broadly and to support women students, staff, and faculty; and has risen in reputation as a model for college and university women's centers in the country.

I first had the opportunity to work with Carol while I was a doctoral student at U of M's Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education (CSHPE). Carol and Bob Blackburn hired me on as one of the graduate student researchers to help conduct a study of all U of M's faculty. From that point on, those experiences with Carol and the rest of the research team helped to direct my own career path, which focuses on serving as an resource and advocate for women at all levels of higher education, but particularly those who desire careers in higher education administration.

As I worked with Carol, I personally witnessed for several years her political astuteness and managerial effectiveness to aptly build CEW's capacity for supporting and helping to advance women into and through the higher education maze, be they students, staff, or faculty members. I marveled at Carol's ability to lead CEW's efforts in handling not only the programmatic and advocacy work for women, but also to conduct important research on the lives of women in higher education and in the workforce.

Carol leaves a great legacy in her many accomplishments at CEW; the ACE State Network of Women Leaders—through the Michigan State Network and her service to the Illinois and Indiana State Networks; her leadership in the National Council for Research on Women, and numerous other state and national associations. I feel privileged to be count myself among her "accomplishments" for the mentoring and friendship that she has shared with me over the years.

I wish Carol Hollenshead a lifetime of joy and happiness in this next phase of her life.

—Submitted by Gloria Thomas
   Associate Director
   Office of Women in Higher Education
   American Council on Education

All of us at OWHE and the ACE State Network Executive Board join Gloria in wishing Carol a healthy, satisfying, and fun-filled next chapter. She has given us much, and we shall miss her.