Riecker Challenge Gift

We welcome the opportunity to talk with you about your interest in the Center

Please contact Betsy Wilson at 734.764.7291, or email, ecwilson@umich.edu

CEW, 330 East Liberty
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104.2274

Riecker Challenge Gift Strengthens CEW's Ability to Support Emerging Graduate Student Researchers

Whether you are a first-time or regular CEW benefactor, this challenge is a wonderful opportunity to make a difference.

We proudly announce that Ranny Riecker, a long-time friend
who shares the Center's commitment to research, recently offered a challenge gift of up to $200,000 to establish the Riecker
Graduate Student Research Fund.

Fund Focuses on Post-Baccalaureate Degrees This initiative applies to a specific group of scholars – those working on post-baccalaureate degrees. The Riecker Fund will annually finance one or two University of Michigan graduate students, who may engage in research in one of two ways: They may join one of the Center's own on-going project teams, or they may work with advisors within their own academic disciplines. Either way, the Fund, and its dollar-for-dollar matching challenge, increases CEW's ability to support budding scholars, enabling them to collaborate with and learn from experienced researchers.

Whether you are a first-time or regular CEW benefactor, this challenge is a wonderful opportunity to make a difference on two levels: For one, you provide essential financial support for bright, motivated and deserving scholars; for another, you ensure that the Center continues to gather relevant data on such complex, contemporary, gender-related issues as access to employment and education, work-life balance, equity and diversity.

Learning Important Skills This exciting challenge gift is Ranny's third major CEW initiative, each designed to offer financial support to different groups of researchers. In 2002, her first major contribution established the Riecker Undergraduate Research Fund. It awards money to University of Michigan faculty members doing gender-related research, making it possible for them to include undergraduate students on their research teams. Over 20 undergraduates have thus far benefited from the Fund, learning important skills by collaborating with their professors on topics as diverse as ovarian cancer treatment, early detection of depression in pregnancy, the history of Michigan's women's rowing team, and the impact of HIV prevention programs among South African women.

Then in 2003 Ranny offered a $100,000 challenge grant to further the Jean Campbell Research Fund. As a result of Ranny's generosity and the responding flood of contributions from Jean's many friends, the Campbell Fund now brings professional scholars from around the world to CEW every year. Using the vast resources available through the Center and the University, these scholars pursue research projects on a wide range of topics relevant to women.

Ranny's Commitment to CEW Of course, Ranny's commitment to CEW extends beyond our research mission.
She has been a member of our Leadership Council for 15 years. She is also her family's representative for the Margaret Dow Towsley Scholarship, which honors her mother. Since 1990, CEW has awarded Towsley scholarships to 383 University of Michigan students. At this Spring's scholarship event, Ranny herself handed out Towsley scholarships to 22 undergraduate and graduate women.

As befits a great research institution like the University of Michigan, CEW maintains its effectiveness and its strong national reputation by conducting its own research, by sharing that knowledge with others, and by training new generations of scholars to carry on the tradition. In 2005, the National Council for Research on Women honored CEW with a prestigious award "for demonstrating the power and value of research for informed action."

We are proud of our successful alumnae, and we are delighted by the opportunity to extend our support to new generations of graduate students doing important contemporary gender-based research. We thank Ranny Riecker for trusting us with such an important mission.

Ranny's challenge has already inspired several CEW friends to contribute to the Fund, and we encourage you to join this group of loyal supporters. For more information about the Riecker Graduate Student Fund, please contact Betsy Wilson at 734.764.7291 or ecwilson@umich.edu.