Giving
Donations to LAS
Gifts in Action: Lynn Morley Martin, AB '60 Teaching of English
By rewarding talented students with scholarships, Mark Pytosh is helping the Department of Chemistry to continue to attract the brightest young scholors. Read his story and more below.
Opportunities for Women
As Secretary of Labor under President George H. Bush, Lynn Martin touched the lives of many Americans. Her emphasis on developing a highly skilled, well-paid workforce was the centerpiece of a strategy to give Americans greater job security in a rapidly changing global economy. She also focused on shattering the glass ceiling by directing the department's first comprehensive study of what opportunities were truly available to women and minorities at management levels across America and of what the barriers were to their advancement.
As a former teacher, Martin is especially interested in the success of women in education and has made a generous gift to the college to recognize teaching excellence. The Lynn M. Martin Awards for Distinguished Women Teachers provide financial support for women faculty members and teaching assistants in LAS who are committed to developing imaginative new courses, improving curricula, and conducting research that enhances teaching.
"To me, college is all about learning to love learning," says Martin. "Finding ways to make learning a joy is an incredible skill, and that's what good teachers do. I want to make it easier for teachers to help students develop a love for learning."
Martin graduated from U of I in 1960 and taught high school English and economics before entering the political arena as an Illinois state legislator. From 1981 to 1991, she served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing the 16th District of Illinois.
Martin chairs Deloitte & Touche's Council on the Advancement of Women and is an advisor to the accounting firm. She also serves as a member of the board of directors for SBC/Ameritech, TRW, Procter & Gamble, the Dreyfus Funds, and Ryder System. She is chairman of the board of Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo and is a professor at the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University.
Lynn Martin is encouraging imaginative students to pursue teaching through the scholarship she has established.