Outgoing director of the OSU Women's Center Beth Rietveld

Beth Rietveld, outgoing director of the Women’s Center at Oregon State University, is the recipient of the 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Women’s Studies Association.

The award recognizes individuals who have advanced women’s equality and served as advocates, role models and mentors to other women. Rietveld was cited for her dedication to gender equity, and her engagement with policies that helped shape the course of gender issues in the workplace.

“You have clearly provided a standard of excellence and enduring legacy at Oregon State University and within the Women’s Centers community,” said Katie Hanna, co-chair of the association’s awards committee.

Rietveld will receive the award at a ceremony on Nov. 10 at the Women’s Center Pre-Conference in Atlanta, Ga. Her mother will fly out to witness the ceremony.

“I feel a sense of pride to finish my career with this incredible honor,” Rietveld said. “As I have seen my Women’s Center peers receive awards in past years, I have always held them in such high esteem and awe. I am completely amazed to now join this elite group.”

Rietveld helped found the OSU Faculty Women’s Network as a forum for faculty women to share triumphs and difficulties, and she also helped develop a Graduate Women’s Network to support female graduate students as they move through the academy and into careers. She pushed to create several university positions, including the Office of Women’s Advancement and Gender Equity and the Sexual Assault Prevention and Education office within student health.

Last year, Oregon Women in Higher Education created a new award named in honor of Rietveld. The “Beth Rietveld Award for Outstanding Service to Oregon Women in Higher Education” recognized the OSU director’s service and was meant to inspire a similar spirit of dedication, leadership and activism in others.

~ Theresa Hogue

The “Beth Rietveld Award for Outstanding Service to Oregon Women in Higher Education” recognizes the OSU director’s service and is meant to inspire a similar spirit of dedication, leadership and activism in others, organizers say.

OWHE was founded in 1980 and is affiliated with the American Council on Education’s Office of Women in Higher Education.  The organization meets annually as an educational forum of female administrators and faculty, with a goal to provide Oregon women in higher education the opportunity to meet and share professional knowledge and skills.

At OSU, colleagues Diane Davis, Stephanie Duckett and Alicia Bublitz wrote about the impact Rietveld has made at OSU.

Their nomination said: “Beth has had a powerful and wide-ranging influence on the status of women in higher education at all levels. Beth has taken a personal and professional interest in the lives of women faculty, staff, and graduate teaching assistants in the university environment.”

Rietveld helped found the OSU Faculty Women’s Network as a forum for faculty women to share triumphs and difficulties, and she also helped develop a Graduate Women’s Network to support female graduate students as they move through the academy and into careers. She pushed to create several university positions, including the Office of Women’s Advancement and Gender Equity and the Sexual Assault Prevention and Education office within student health, that are specifically tasked with addressing the needs of women on campus.

Rietveld said she was shocked to be presented with the award.

“I am truly humbled and blessed to have had the opportunity to serve both Oregon Women in Higher Education and Oregon State in raising awareness of issues that disproportionately affect women’s lives,” she said. “I hope I have provided opportunities for others to get involved and carry on with the work that lies ahead.”