By Jackie Todd, University Relations
A faculty and a staff member were among six women who were recognized by the President’s Commission on the Status of Women during its Outstanding Women awards ceremony last week. The ceremony concluded the series of Women’s History Month events held in March.
Faculty and staff awards
Margaret Ptacek was honored with the faculty award. An 18-year veteran of the university, this top-performing biological sciences professor in the College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences challenges girls to achieve success in STEM careers. She supports that in her lab, where her female students earn the chance to act in leadership roles. Her course is not easy. Her students find her to be tough, but fair as she prepares them to become the next generation of scientists.
Ptacek also serves as the associate director of the Tigers Advance Program. The National Science Foundation-funded program aims to reduce gender inequality and support professional development of early- and mid-career faculty. She is active in the university’s Tiger Advocates program, which engages male colleagues to become gender-equality advocates.
Staff award recipient Kelly Collins is a 2003 Clemson alumna. She uses her expertise in financial management in her position as the College of Engineering’s chief of staff and chief operating officer. Collins is credited with creating new opportunities for female students. She provided resources to create a dedicated study space for PEER-WISE students.
Collins helps female students and staff create plans to advance their careers and has worked to help staff examine and create an effective career-life balance.
Student and individual contributor awards
Three students and a well-loved member of the Clemson community were honored during the ceremony.
Recipients included:
- Engineering and Science Education Ph.D. student Maya Rucks, who was honored with the graduate student award. Rucks was part of a team who studied a successful university-K-12 alliance. She coordinates and performs research for Clemson’s Women in Science and Engineering Residence (WISER) program.
- Truman Scholar, Rhodes Scholarship finalist and 2017 Clemson University Undergraduate Student Body President Killian McDonald, who received the undergraduate student award. McDonald double majors in political science and women’s leadership. Her senior thesis examines the effects of women representatives on social policy. As CUSG president, McDonald created both an LGBTQIA+ engagement chair and committee and a multicultural affairs director and committee to support underrepresented students at Clemson.
- Longtime Psi Kappa Chapter of Chi Omega advisor Tish Fain, who serves as role model, mentor and leader for young women at Clemson. Those in the Clemson area are very familiar with her popular family-owned dance studio, where she encourages her students to reach their full potential and promotes confidence in their abilities and themselves.
- Thea McCrary Student Award for Outstanding Service award recipient Morgan Daughtridge, who worked or volunteered in five different states and eight different countries. Organizers say that she has volunteered with the Chesapeake Cares Food Pantry, volunteered to teach surfing with the Dreams to Reality non-profit organization in Cape Town Africa, worked with Engineers Without Borders in Africa, volunteered with an organic farming program in Fiji, served on a mission trip to Uganda, volunteered with the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and volunteered as an English teacher in Indonesia. Daughtridge currently donates her time with the International Clemson Student Outreach program as a mentor and event planner and with the Scott Hills Awesome Riding Experience as a riding instructor for children with special needs.
