UW-Madison professor Emily Auerbach will receive national recognition Sunday for her commitment to promoting educational opportunities for students of diverse backgrounds.
The Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities will honor Auerbach with the Commission on Access, Diversity and Excellence Distinguished Service Award, according to a university press release.
UW officials who nominated Auerbach for this award noted her role in the success of the Odyssey Project.
UW-Madison’s Odyssey Project, founded in part by Auerbach in 2003, provides a scholarship undergraduate humanities class to 30 ethnically diverse adult students who face economic boundaries in their pursuit of higher education.
"We are pleased that Professor Auerbach's vision and dedication to the Odyssey project have been recognized with this APLU award," Sarah Mangelsdorf, UW-Madison's provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, said in the release. "The program creates new educational opportunities that are an important component of improving access to higher education."
According to the Odyssey Project website, Auerbach was inspired by author and educator Earl Shorris who was known for his work in the humanities field and “believed that the gateway out of poverty and disenfranchisement would come through exposure to powerful works of moral philosophy.”
