Image: Dr. Juanita Johnson-Bailey has been named the first recipient of the Centennial Professorship, an endowed professorship in Women's Studies. To celebrate the 100th anniversary of coeducation at the University of Georgia in 2018, the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences proposed to establish the Centennial Professorship in Women’s Studies. The $250,000 professorship would recognize and support an outstanding faculty member whose work focuses on interdisciplinary issues of gender and women’s history. An anonymous donor, through a desire to strengthen gender and women’s studies in the Franklin College, presented $125,000 to the UGA Foundation to create the Centennial Professorship in Women’s Studies. The University of Georgia provided the matching $125,000 to fully fund this professorship. “I am honored to be appointed to the Centennial Professorship in Women’s Studies. I am grateful to the Franklin College for this recognition. As a teenager, I was first able to put a name to my worldview and perspective—feminism—and later to my academic disciplines—women’s studies and education,” said Johnson-Bailey. “As a professor, I have been fortunate to research and teach in these fields that have sustained and invigorated me and given purpose to my life. Receiving this acknowledgment for working in areas that has given me so much is a blessing.” Dr. Johnson-Bailey is the former Director of the Institute for Women's Studies, having served in the role from 2009 to 2022. She is the 2018 University Professor and holds the Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professorship. She is a faculty member in Women's Studies and the Department of Lifelong Education, Administration and Policy in the Mary Frances Early College of Education. “I am thrilled that Dr. Johnson-Bailey has been selected as the first Centennial Professor in women’s studies,” said Patricia Richards, director of the Institute for Women’s Studies and Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor of sociology and women’s studies. “Her work on Black women’s narratives and race/gender inequality in educational spaces has had vast influence on the field, and her commitment to building feminist community at UGA is beyond compare. We are honored that she is part of our community, and she is most deserving of this recognition.” To learn more about the Centennial Professorship in Women's Studies and Dr. Juanita Johnson-Bailey's scholarship, visit UGA Columns.
