Sources: Elizabeth Unger, 785-532-6520, beth@k-state.edu;
and Duane Nellis, 785-532-6224, provost.nellis@k-state.edu
News release prepared by: Andy Badeker, 785-532-6415, abadeker@k-state.edu
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
K-STATE'S UNGER TAKES SABBATICAL AFTER STEPPING DOWN AS VICE PROVOST, DEAN
MANHATTAN -- As Elizabeth Unger steps back from her dual jobs of vice provost and dean, she hopes her legacy at Kansas State University will be to encourage other women to surpass her accomplishments of the past 41 years.
"One of my goals has always been to help women achieve their own goals in academic fields, where they were in the vast minority, as well as in administration," Unger said.
Unger, who for 13 years has been K-State's vice provost for academic services and technology as well as dean of continuing education, started a six-month sabbatical July 1 as part of her phased retirement. When she returns she will take up an advisory role related to learning and technology in the university's Information Technology Assistance Center.
"Beth Unger has done a superb job at placing K-State among the lead public institutions nationally in both technology and continuing education," said Duane Nellis, university provost and senior vice president. "From her earliest days on campus, she has done her utmost to assure that technology serves academic excellence, and she has made that excellence accessible to a greater diversity of students."
Unger's new title will be professor of computing and information sciences, and vice provost and dean emeriti. She plans to research and develop innovative technology for learning, teaching, research and outreach.
Residence hall Internet connections, laptops on the lawn and distance learning are common enough on campuses these days, but when Unger arrived at K-State in 1966 to become associate director of the Computing Center, paper ruled, even in computer science: Much processing involved the venerable IBM punch cards.
She went on to serve as a professor in two colleges at K-State. She taught mathematics, statistics and computer science in the College of Arts and Sciences, as well as computing and information sciences in the College of Engineering.
In 1990 Unger was appointed associate dean of the Graduate School, but she continued to teach courses and advise graduate and doctoral students.
During the 1970s debate over Title IX, she said, "I also served on the athletics council during some of the most turbulent times of integrating women into athletic programs." She worked to get women into the NCAA "and K-State women into the Big 8 Conference as fully enfranchised players."
Unger helped lead the National Science Foundation ADVANCE Institutional Transformation program at K-State, which aimed to increase the participation and advancement of women faculty in engineering, math and science. In her career she has brought more than $10 million to the university.
"It is important to me to have other women strive to achieve at this level," she said, "and finally, to exceed the level I have reached at Kansas State University."