SVSU faculty, professor, student honored with YWCA Women of Achievement Awards

Three members of the Saginaw Valley State University community were among 12 women the YWCA Great Lakes Bay Region honored for their leadership and contributions to social causes across the area. 

 

An academic college dean, a professor and a student were among the recipients of the annual YWCA Women of Achievement Awards in the region. The recipients were as follows: 

 

Judith Ruland, dean of SVSU’S College of Health & Human Services, earned the 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award for her outstanding contributions to her communities through volunteer and professional activities. She was among three women to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the YWCA Great Lakes Bay Region. After serving on the faculty at the University of Florida, Ruland arrived at SVSU in 2011, when her efforts led to the growth of programs within the College of Health & Human Services. She also has served as part of the Bay County Leadership Program and has participated in medical mission trips abroad in locations such as Mexico, Honduras, Bolivia, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic. 

 

Dawn Hinton, an SVSU professor of sociology and faculty fellow in the Center for Community Engagement at SVSU, was recognized by the YWCA Great Lakes Bay Region as one of three 2020 Women of Achievement Award recipients. Her contributions as a community leader earned her other recognitions recently. In 2019, Hinton was presented the Larry T. Reynolds Award for Outstanding Teaching of Sociology by the Michigan Sociological Association at Wayne State University; a Heart of the City award by The Michigan Banner; and the 2019 Whitney M. Young Jr. Service Award by the Boy Scouts of America, Michigan Crossroads Council in Saginaw. 

 

Indigo Dudley, an SVSU student from Saginaw and a music major, was one of four recipients the YWCA Great Lakes Bay Region recognized with its 2020 Emerging Leader Award. Dudley has served in several leadership roles off and on campus, including in the SVSU Organization of Black Unity. In June, she was among the organizers of a Black Lives Matter protest, which was one of the largest protests in recent Saginaw history. At SVSU, she helped organize diversity-inspired events for the university’s Multicultural Student Affairs office. 

 

The YWCA Great Lakes Bay Region honored recipients of its 2020 awards during video presentations presented on its Facebook page. 

 

For more information on the YWCA Great Lakes Bay Region and its Women of Achievement Awards, please visit www.ywcaglbr.org/women-of-achievement-awards.