The MTSU community is well-represented among the nominees for the 2017 ATHENA International Leadership Award and the 2017 ATHENA Young Professional Leadership Award.

Click on the logo for ticket information.

Rutherford Cable, a local organization for women’s professional advancement, will present the awards at a dinner ceremony beginning at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, April 27, at Embassy Suites, 1200 Conference Center Blvd. in Murfreesboro.

University-based nominees for the International Leadership Award include:

• Lara Daniel, professor of business law and assistant dean for assessment in the Jennings A. Jones College of Business.
• Dr. Mary Hoffschwelle, history professor and director of MT Engage, a program to promote engaged learning in students’ educational experiences.
• Dr. Hilary Miller, director of the Charlie and Hazel Daniels Veterans and Military Family Center at MTSU.
• alumna and philanthropist Dr. Liz Rhea, a member of the boards of the MTSU Foundation, MTSU Alumni Board and the Blue Raider Athletic Association.
• Barbara Scales, director of MTSU’s June Anderson Center for Women and Nontraditional Students.

University-based nominees for the Young Professional Leadership Award include three MTSU alumnae:

• La’Endia Buchanan, recruiting coordinator and adviser in the Career Development Center at MTSU.
• Dr. Alicja Lanfear, lecturer in the Department of Biology and a founding officer of the Tennessee Association of Biology Teachers.
• Asheton Winborn, chapter adviser for the Zeta Theta Chapter of Chi Omega sorority at MTSU.

Dr. Liz Rhea

Dr. Hilary Miller

Dr. Mary Hoffschwelle

Professor Lara Daniel

Martha Mertz, founder of the ATHENA International Leadership Award program, will serve as keynote speaker for the awards dinner.

Mertz, an expert on women and leadership, worked with the Lansing, Michigan, Chamber of Commerce in the early 1980s to create the program, which supports, honors and develops women leaders and is offered in more than 500 communities worldwide.

“The ATHENA award recognizes individuals who excel in their professions, give back to their communities and help raise up other leaders, especially women,” said event chair Anne Henslee.

Asheton Winborn

Dr. Alicja K. Lanfear

La’Endia Buchanan

Barbara Scales

“The ATHENA Young Professional Leadership Award, introduced to the Rutherford County community in 2016, recognizes an emerging leader under age 40 who exemplifies the ATHENA values and serves as a role model for women personally and professionally.”

Tickets to the award dinner and ceremony are $60 per person and are available online at www.rutherfordcable.org.

Rutherford Cable; Pinnacle Financial Partners; Ascend Federal Credit Union; Deloitte, Farrar/Wright PLLC; Guaranty Trust; State Farm; NHC HealthCare; General Mills; Dempsey Vantrease & Follis PLLC; and VIP Murfreesboro sponsor the awards.

For more information, including a complete list of nominees, contact Tosha Stoutenberg, marketing and communications chair for Rutherford Cable, at tstoutenburg@ascendfcu.org or visit www.rutherfordcable.org.

— Gina K. Logue (Gina.Logue@mtsu.edu)