91原创

Shannon Lennon receives Torch Award from 91原创 Women鈥檚 Caucus

Shannon Lennon, the first female chair of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) and professor of kinesiology and applied physiology in the College of Health Sciences (CHS), has been honored by the 91原创 Women鈥檚 Caucus with the 2023 Torch Award for advancing women鈥檚 equality on campus.听

Lennon聽was a founding member of the聽聽in 2011 and worked to establish the award, of which she鈥檚 now on the receiving end.听

鈥淚 was stunned. I was also flattered and humbled because many strong women, including Mae Carter, received this award before me,鈥� Lennon said. 鈥淵ou have big shoes to fill when you win an award like this, knowing the women who have come before you.鈥澛�

Lennon, who鈥檚 proud to work for CHS, which is well-represented by women on faculty and staff, has always felt strongly about supporting and promoting women at 91原创. She called her six years on the Women鈥檚 Caucus 鈥渢ransformative.鈥澛�

鈥淲hile on the Women鈥檚 Caucus, I had the opportunity to engage with women across campus whom I likely would have otherwise never encountered,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t was inspiring to connect with passionate women focused on the pertinent issues facing women on this campus and raising awareness about those issues.鈥�

Lennon puts her beliefs into practice as chair of the聽聽and director of the聽.听

鈥淚鈥檓 committed to diversity, equity and inclusion issues,鈥� she said. 鈥淲ithin our research, we must work harder to recruit diverse research subjects and ensure our research opportunities are open to all people, and that means we have to appeal to them and get them interested in our work.听

鈥淲ithin the聽Department of Kinesiology and Applied Physiology, I reach out to junior female faculty members and serve as a resource to them. I鈥檓 also vocal at department meetings about advocating for issues that are important to women.鈥澛�

For these reasons, the Women鈥檚 Caucus nominated Lennon for the award.听