The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations conferred its Woman of Distinction Award on University of Windsor professor Pamela Milne at an October 21 ceremony in Toronto.

The award, sponsored by OCUFA’s Status of Women Committee, recognizes women who have improved the lives and working conditions of academic women and, by extension, their colleagues, families, and friends.

“Dr. Milne has worked tirelessly – and often without recognition or support – to advance the interests of women in academe,” said Helene Cummins, chair of the OCUFA Status of Women Committee. “She is a force to be reckoned with when speaking about employment and educational equity, and an ideal recipient of the Women of Distinction Award.”

As a member of the Windsor University Faculty Association, Milne was instrumental in creating Windsor’s employment equity plan and was a member of the monitoring branch of that plan. Through her work as an equity assessor on numerous hiring committees, she championed the hiring of women and minorities in senior academic positions. She has also served on status of women committees at WUFA, OCUFA, and the Canadian Alliance of University Teachers.

“OCUFA is committed to advancing and protecting the personal, professional and academic interests of women in the academy,” said OCUFA president Constance Adamson. “That is why we are so proud to bestow this honour upon such an exceptional advocate for academic women.”

Founded in 1964, OCUFA represents 17,000 faculty and academic librarians in 27 faculty associations across Ontario.