Women Honored for Leadership, Innovation, and Service
AWHE is committed to improving the general climate and professional environment for women by identifying and developing leadership, advancing, and connecting and supporting women in higher education throughout the State. AWHE will honor one exceptional woman at the summer conference where the recipient will be publicly recognized for their achievements. In accordance with our mission, AWHE wants to celebrate outstanding women. The AWHE Executive Board appoints an Awards Committee to select annual award honorees.
Dr. Marylou Mercado
2024 AWHE Woman of the Year
Dr. Marylou Mercado is a Hispanic first-generation community college graduate and recently completed a Doctor of Education in 2018. She currently serves as the Associate Vice President of Health Sciences with Yavapai College.
Throughout Dr. Mercado’s journey as a non-traditional student, she has had women in the roles of professors and administrative assistants walk alongside and stand with her through every challenge, offering encouragement so that she could complete her educational goals for quality of life. After spending 28 years in the community college environment, Dr. Mercado believes that education is the empowerment and equalizer of overcoming societal inequalities. Helping students achieve their educational goals and fostering leadership qualities and abilities in women are paramount to her role and responsibilities in higher education. She is passionate about seeing women become all they desire to be by investing time with them, hearing their concerns, understanding their visions and goals, and providing resources so that they may achieve all they are meant to achieve in fulfilling their destiny. For Dr. Mercado, there is no greater joy.
Past Honorees
Dr. Kate Smith
2023 Woman of the Year
Kate Smith, Ed. D serves as Rio Salado College’s sixth president. With nearly 30 years of experience in education, she is a highly regarded and enthusiastic leader who advocates for student success on all levels. Smith understands the barriers that non-traditional students face and is dedicated to making education affordable, accessible and equitable.
Smith joined Rio Salado in 2016 as the vice president of academic affairs and chief academic officer. Prior to her tenure at Rio Salado, she served as the dean of the academic foundations division at Monroe Community College in Rochester, New York. She also served Monroe as a tenured professor, chairperson and dean. Prior to her work at Monroe, she taught high school mathematics and served as a consultant to Hobart and William Smith Colleges and local companies on college and career mathematics readiness.
President Smith’s community development roles include being a founding member of WGU Labs’ College Innovation Network; Presidents Forum Governing Board Member; founding member of the Taskforce on Higher Education and Opportunity; co-chair of the education committee for the Arizona-Mexico Commission; East Valley Partnerships Board of Directors; membership in the Alliance for Innovation & Transformation; Excelencia Presidents for Latino Student Success; Friends of Public Radio Ex Officio Board Member; Higher Education Research and Development Institute Advisory Board Member; Valley of the Sun United Way Women United member; and board member for the Maricopa County Community College District Foundation and Tempe Chamber of Commerce.
President Smith is passionate about learning, giving, mathematics and being an active member of her community. She and her husband Dennis enjoy spending time running and hiking Arizona trails.
Dr. Cheree Meeks
2022 Woman of the Year
In her position as Assistant Dean, Programs, Diversity, and Inclusion within the W.A. Franke Honors College at the University of Arizona, Cheree is often one of the first people Honors students meet following their orientation in the summer and her warmth, authenticity, institutional knowledge and quality of care often make her the go-to person for students within the college whether they need guidance, a smile, someone to listen, or a letter of recommendation. Cheree’s roles in the Honors College, as the President of the Tucson chapter of the NAACP, on several inclusion-based committees on campus such as the Commission on the Status of Women, and her visibility and involvement within both the campus and Tucson community make her the ideal recipient of this award as she is excelling personally and professionally and ensuring that she lefts as she climbs.
Laura Umphrey
2022 Woman of the Year Honorable Mention
Dr. Laura Umphrey, is the Director, School
of Communication and Professor for Northern Arizona University. Laura describes her role
as, “As a leader for the School, I see my role as a communicator, someone who
sets the tone for the School (through morale building and appreciation initiatives),
an advocate for faculty and a facilitator (of programs, initiatives and relationship
building).”Dr. Umphrey interacts
thoughtfully and authentically with 48 full time faculty, 20 part time faculty, 4 staff members, student workers and hundreds of students. You can see on people’s faces and in our halls all the impact she makes on our success, wellbeing and connection with each other.
Dr. Linda Elliot-Nelson, Ph.D.
2021 Woman of the Year
Dr. Linda Elliott-Nelson serves as Strategic Partnerships/Vinculación at Arizona Western College. She previously served as the Vice President for Learning Services, the Dean of Instruction, Division Chair of Modern Languages and Professor of Spanish at Arizona Western College. Her prior work experience also involved several years in the international business sector.
Dr. Elliott-Nelson earned a Ph.D. in Education from Walden University, an M.B.A. and an M.A. in Spanish from Arizona State University, and a B.A. degree from Northern Arizona University. Her activities have included co-founding the Yuma Youth Town Hall; founding and coordinating the Gifted Summer Academy for 4th – 8th graders; co-coordinating the Binational Conference on Education with Baja California, Mexico; serving on the national Modern Language Association Committee on 2-year Colleges; and evaluating employee Spanish language proficiency for the City of Yuma. She received the Athena Leadership Award in 2019, the Outstanding University/College Educator Award from the Arizona Language Association in 2000 and the Teacher of the Year from Arizona Western College in 1999.
Elliott-Nelson has presented nationally and internationally on community outreach and engagement, regional collaboration, partnerships, accelerative learning techniques, and community college trends. She served as the Chairman of the Board of Arizona Town Hall during 2015-2017, Chair of Arizona Women in Higher Education during 2019-2020, Co-chair of the AZTransfer Steering Committee and Chair of the Arizona Community College Chief Academic Officers, and currently serves on the boards of the Yuma Orchestra Association, Arizona Town Hall, Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area and Arizona Women in Higher Education as well as steering committees for Southwest Arizona Town Hall and the Yuma Education Advocacy Council. In 2021, Governor Ducey appointed her to the Arizona Historical Society Board. Her current activities focus on community engagement, education, and development in the Arizona/California/Sonora/Baja California mega-region.
Valerie Cimarossa
2021 Woman of the Year Honorable Mention
Valerie Cimarossa is a young higher education professional filling the role of Vice President of Marketing and Technology at the University of Advancing Technology (UAT) in Tempe, Arizona. Valerie has held this role for more than five years, and this is her seventh year in the higher education industry, all of which she has served at UAT.
After earning her Bachelor of Science in Business Management from Arizona State, Valerie went on to earn her Master of Science in Technology Leadership from UAT. An alum of Valley Leadership Class 38, Valerie works with local organizations to develop her leadership skills and expand the reach of her community contributions. Other organizations Valerie has worked with include Girl Scouts Arizona Cactus-Pine Council, SARRC and New Way Academy, Miss Scottsdale/Phoenix/Maricopa County, Ballet Arizona, FBI Citizens Academy, Greater Phoenix Economic Council, Arizona Technology Council, and several more.
2019 – Maria Hesse, Ed.D.
Until her retirement in July 2019, Dr. Maria Hesse served as the Vice Provost for Academic Partnerships at Arizona State University, responsible for establishing and maintaining strong relationships with community colleges and other colleges and universities on behalf of ASU. Prior to her arrival at ASU in 2009, Dr. Hesse served as President and Chief Executive of Chandler-Gilbert Community College. Even as she retires this year, her role as a mentor continues to touch countless people. She has served on AWHE’s executive board for many years.
2018 – Jeanne Swarthout, Ph.D.
Dr. Jeanne Swarthout was appointed the seventh and first female President of Northland Pioneer College in May 2007, after serving as the college’s Dean of Liberal Arts and Vice President of Instruction/Learning since 2001. She had previously served in academic and leadership roles at New Mexico State University, Northern Arizona University, University of Phoenix, and Arizona State University. Dr. Swarthout retired from NPA in 2018, and is also one of the original Executive Board members for the Arizona Women in Higher Education (AWHE) network.
2017 – Linda M. Thor, Ed.D.
Elected to the Maricopa Community College District Governing Board in 2016, Dr. Linda M. Thor previously worked in community colleges for 41 years, 29 years as a chief executive officer. Dr. Thor is President Emeritus of Rio Salado College in Tempe, Arizona, where she served for nearly 20 years, and is Chancellor Emeritus of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District in California’s Silicon Valley, a post she held for 5 ½ years. Prior to becoming Rio Salado’s president in 1990, Dr. Thor was president of West Los Angeles College in Culver City, California. Dr. Thor’s appointment as West Los Angeles College president in 1986 followed a successful tenure as senior director of occupational and technical education for the Los Angeles Community College District. Earlier she served the L.A. District as director of high technology centers and services and director of communications services.
2016 – Marlene Tromp, Ph.D.
Marlene Tromp was Professor of English and Women and Gender Studies, Dean at Arizona State University’s New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, and Vice Provost of ASU’s West Campus. She is a scholar of the long nineteenth century and has served as president of the North American Victorian Studies Association (2014-17). Her commitment to a diverse student body, staff, and faculty has led to her leadership and creation of programs and processes that accomplish results. In 2017, Dr. Tromp was appointed campus Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor at UC Santa Cruz and in 2019, she was selected as the first female president of Boise State University.
2015 – Erin Grisham, M.A.
Erin Grisham serves as the Associate Vice President for the Office of Student Affairs at Northern Arizona University and oversees Office of Student Life, and Campus Recreation, Educational Support Services. She is a member of the Enrollment Management and Student Affairs Division senior leadership team and leads the University’s portfolio of retention and student success initiatives. Erin is deeply passionate about college access and the imperative of providing appropriately targeted educational opportunities and support for all students. In 2010, she worked with private foundations and the Flagstaff YMCA to launch the highly successful Northern Arizona College Resource Center. This partnership expands and facilitates University outreach to a broader audience of prospective students. In 2013, the Arizona Commission for Postsecondary Education honored Erin’s dedication to and leadership in college access, transition and success programs. Erin holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and sociology and a masters degree in sociology from the University of Arizona. She recently completed the University of Southern California’s Leadership in Enrollment Management program. Erin has been married to her husband Mark for seventeen years and has three children.
2014 – Rachel Fuchs, Ph.D.
Dr. Rachel Fuchs retired in 2015 as a Regents’ Professor and Foundation Professor of History from Arizona State University, where she had taught since 1983. Born in Staten Island, NY, in 1939, Rachel earned a B.A. and M.A. at Boston University in 1959 and 1962, respectively, and then her Ph.D. in French history at Indiana University in 1980. In addition to serving as editor of French Historical Studies and in many other leadership roles, Prof. Fuchs’ scholarship consistently focused on bring women’s lives to the forefront of analysis; collectively her work altered the way historians and others understand history. We are sad to report that Dr. Rachel Fuchs passed away in Charleston, S.C. in October of 2016.
2013 – MJ McMahon, Ph.D.
Named as the first AWHE Woman of the Year, MJ McMahon worked tirelessly to advance women’s leadership in higher education. Dr. McMahon served as Executive Vice President and Professor at Northern Arizona University. NAU President John Haeger told conference-goers that McMahon is the “ultimate detail person and a trustworthy problem-solver on campus. When we have a problem, she is dispatched to deal with the issue,” he said.