Angela Sodan.

In the late stages of her battle against cancer, professor Angela Sodan completed the handbook Recruiting and Retaining Female Students in Computer Science Programs of Windsor.

That exceptional caring and perseverance in equity issues has won posthumous recognition for Dr. Sodan, who died in April 2011, as the Status of Women, Diversity and Equity Action Committee of the Windsor University Faculty Association named her the 2012 recipient of its Mary Lou Dietz Equity Leadership Award.

Colleagues are invited to a reception in Sodan’s honour, starting at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 16, at Kerr House, 366 Sunset Avenue.

Sodan worked in a field where women are under-represented, motivating her to serve on committees for the purpose of encouraging and protecting women and underrepresented minorities. She was a long-standing chair of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ Women in Engineering committee and helped to found a student affiliate group at the University of Windsor. A noted researcher, she also published scholarly articles on gender in education and the workplace.

The Mary Lou Dietz Equity Leadership Award is named to honour the late UWindsor faculty member and head of the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology and her contributions to the advancement of women in Canadian universities and colleges. It recognizes individuals who demonstrate the spirit of equity leadership through their contributions to creating an equity culture on campus.

To attend the May 16 reception, RSVP by Thursday, May 10, by e-mail at wufa@uwindsor.ca or by phone at 519-253-3000, ext. 3365.