Editors Note: To obtain photos in tiff or jpeg formats of Sandra Morgen, call the UO Office of Communications, (541) 346-3134.

EUGENE–The University of Oregon has named Sandra Morgen, a tireless champion of freedom of speech and assembly in education, as the 2001 recipient of the Charles E. Johnson Memorial Award.

Morgen, director of the UO Center for the Study of Women in Society (CSWS), will receive the award at a pre-commencement brunch that begins at 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 16, in the Wayne Morse Commons of the Knight Law Center, 1515 Agate St. She will be acknowledged again during the 124th spring commencement that will begin at 12:30 p.m. in McArthur Court, 1601 University St.

The Johnson Award, first given by the UO faculty in 1980, traditionally honors a faculty member who has demonstrated exceptional service to the university and its community, and who has exemplified the principles affirmed by former UO President Charles E. Johnson. Those principles include that freedom of speech and assembly hold a central position among American constitutional and educational precepts; that a university can and must adapt to accelerating social change while maintaining its basic objective; and that, as Thomas Jefferson said, "…here we are not afraid to follow truth wherever it might lead, nor to tolerate error so long as reason is left free to combat it."

The Johnson Award is among the most prestigious given to any faculty member at the University of Oregon. A five-member committee, comprised of Morgen’s faculty colleagues, selected her to receive the award from nominations submitted by UO faculty, staff and students.

"Sandra Morgen’s firm commitment to making the university a place where all voices are heard, her tireless efforts to connect scholarly research with social change and her valuable service to the University of Oregon, its students and the community make this a particularly fitting award," says UO President Dave Frohnmayer.

Morgen was named director of the UO Center for the Study of Women in Society in 1991. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill awarded her a doctorate in 1982; she received her master’s degree from the University of North Carolina in 1976 and her bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas, Austin, in 1972.

"Sandra Morgen restructured CSWS and opened the organization to graduate students, community members and minority groups whose voices weren’t being heard," says Linda Fuller, a UO professor of sociology. "She established research interest groups, knows as RIGs, that got people who weren’t always talking to begin dialogues with one another."

Morgen believes strongly that scholarly research should be used to influence social policy and public dialogue about social issues.

She recently co-authored a major study of the impact of welfare reform on poor families that demonstrated the mixed effects of changing welfare policies on poor women and children. Morgen believes that research, rather than political ideology, should inform the development of public policy.

"Too often public policy is determined by power politics and ideologies, rather than a careful analysis of what is in the best interest of individuals, families and communities," Morgen says, "and we have to listen to the voices of the poor in assessing welfare reform and, unfortunately, the voices of the poor are often ignored."

—30—

#G-6077/Local,OrDailies,PDX