Rosa Githiora, Ph.D. Honored by Cambridge Who's Who for Excellence in Advocacy and Academia
Dr. Githiora has been named a Professional of the Year for 2011-2012

AKRON, OH, August 12, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Dr. Rosa Githiora, Interim Director of The Women's Resource Center at The University of Akron, has been recognized by Cambridge Who's Who for showing dedication, leadership and excellence in advocacy for women and girls.

Dr. Githiora has amassed nearly a decade of experience as an advocate and scholar. She works with The Women's Resource Center, The Office of Inclusion and Equity, and the Women's Studies Academic Program at The University of Akron. These departments examine issues of diversity and inclusive excellence, as well as encourage debates on gender stereotypes and assumptions, exploring divergent viewpoints and cultural practices that continue to shape lives globally. She has worked with refugees and offender populations, and has an interest in criminology. Dr. Githiora was drawn to her current work because her parents, who are avid human rights advocates, exposed and educated her on issues of social injustice and inequity at a young age.

Since last year, Dr. Githiora has been responsible for managing department budgets, scheduling major speakers and contract professionals for engaging the campus and surrounding community in educational initiatives regarding social justice and equity issues, forming collaborative partnerships with local organizations in addressing various gender-based and women's issues, inclusive program development, management and evaluation, fundraising, raising diversity awareness, and teaching graduate and undergraduate-level courses. She attributes her success in this role to her professional and personal experiences, her work ethic, and those in her field who saw promise in her performance.

Dr. Githiora earned a Bachelor of Arts in criminal justice and sociology from Saint Francis University, followed by a Master of Public Administration focused on nonprofit management and a Ph.D. in urban studies and public affairs from The University of Akron. More recently, Dr. Githiora earned certification in budget management from Federal TRIO Programs and certification in research from the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative.

As a distinguished scholar, she has garnered recognition for her studies. She received a 2005 Chancellor's List Honor from The University of Akron and was inducted into Who's Who among American Students in College. Her honors as an undergraduate at Saint Francis University include a 2004 All-American Scholar Award, 2004 Criminal Justice Student of the Year Award and a UPS Scholarship for Minority Students for three consecutive years. She is a member of the Ohio Diversity Officers Collaboration (ODOC), Graduate Committee for Research on Women and Gender, Center for Health Advocacy Network Gender and Education, ASPA, American Evaluation Association, Women Educational Researchers of Kenya, and International Referral Network, Inc.

Looking ahead, Dr. Githiora hopes to work with an organization that is policy oriented in regards to enhancing gender equality, women's economic empowerment and development through improved resource management, inclusive refined strategies toward improving marginalized groups education availability, graduation rates and job creation. She also hopes to become involved with publishing and branding.

For more information about The University of Akron, visit http://www.uakron.edu and http://www.uakron.edu/wrc.

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