Award Presented to Outstanding Women

Ann Amerson and Carol Jordan in front of portrait of Sarah Bennett Holmes

As winners of the Sarah Bennett Holmes Award, Amerson and Jordan each received a plaque and $750. Sarah Bennett Holmes' granddaughter Betsy Costello and great granddaughter Ann Vaughn Hargis also attended the award ceremony.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 24, 2005) -- The University of Kentucky Women’s Forum presented its 12th annual Sarah Bennett Holmes Award to Ann Amerson, professor in the UK College of Pharmacy, and Carol Jordan, director of the UK Center for Research on Violence Against Women.

This is the first year the award has been presented to two women, a faculty member and a staff member.

Amerson, Jordan, and 10 other nominees were recognized during a luncheon Wednesday, March 23, at the UK Student Center. The award, named for a former distinguished dean of women at UK, recognizes remarkable women at the university who promote the growth and well-being of other women at UK and in Kentucky.

“I feel very honored to receive this award and honored that my colleagues feel I have contributed to their development as professional women,” Amerson said. “I try to follow what a mentor once told me, ‘you thank me by doing for others.’”

Amerson earned her Pharm.D. degree in 1971 when few women pursued pharmacy as a career, and she achieved the rank of full professor in UK’s College of Pharmacy in 1984, one of only two such women to do so at the time.

As part of her distinguished career in the College of Pharmacy, Amerson has served as the faculty adviser to the women’s pharmacy fraternity, Lambda Kappa Sigma, since 1976. A nominator wrote “Dr. Amerson’s sustained leadership has helped bridge existing gender gaps in pharmacy practice and education.”

Jordan, a leading researcher and author in the fields of domestic violence, victimization and mental health issues among women, was the guiding force behind creation of UK’s Center for Research on Violence Against Women. As director, she has initiated various research projects, undertaken many efforts to improve campus safety for women, and secured more than $3.2 million in funding for the center .

"To be numbered among the thousands of UK women whose work is extraordinary on a daily basis is, in and of itself, an honor,” Jordan said. “For that reason, the recognition from the Women's Forum will be treasured among the highlights of my time at the university."

Jordan has promoted women’s issues in Kentucky for more than 20 years. Prior to coming to UK, she created and directed the Governor’s Office of Child Abuse and Domestic Violence. One nominator wrote that Jordan’s work “serves to benefit women at UK, the Commonwealth and throughout the nation. She has made and continues to make a mark on the lives of women.”

Other Sarah Bennett Holmes Award nominees are:

Mary Duncan, Central Purchasing
Roberta “Bert” Grevious, UK Newborn Nursery
Thelma Masterson, Physical Plant Division
Holly Salisbury, Singletary Center for the Arts
Baretta Casey, Department of Family Practice and Community Medicine in Hazard
Nancy Clauter, School of Music
Julia Costich, Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center
Lina Crocker, Center for English as a Second Language
Nancy Brown Johnson, Center for Labor Education and Research
Dianna Niebylski, Latin American Studies Program