Lillian Elsinga, associated vice president for student services and dean of students at UND, was named the 2007 Athena Award recipient by The Chamber on Tuesday.
The Athena Award recognizes individuals - both women and men - who demonstrate professional excellence, community service and actively assist women in their attainment of professional excellence and leadership. Individuals are nominated for the award by their peers, colleagues and members of the local community.
Elsinga was nominated by employees from UND Student Services who consider her a mentor. She has been helping UND students for more than 30 years. She is a co-founder of the UND Crisis Team, which is a program that has UND staff on call around the clock to respond to students in crisis. She is also a founding member of the Association for Student Judicial Affairs.
Elsinga has worked with the Community Violence Intervention Center in Grand Forks for more than 10 years and is an active member of the Domestic Violence Task Force. She is an Altru Health System board member, on the board of directors for the Adult Abuse Center and serves as the campaign director for the United Way UND Campaign. In 2006, she received the Phenomenal Women Award.
Other nominees were: Susan Brorson, University of Minnesota-Crookston; Sarah Heitkamp, The GAP; Alice Hoffert, UND Enrollment Services; Col. Diane Hull, Grand Forks Air Force Base; Amanda Hvidsten, UND Alumni Association; Kathryn Kenna, Northeast Human Service Center; Roseann Lund, Gate City Bank; Kay Mendick, UND Women's Center and Thomas Peterson, Richard P. Stadter Psychiatric Center.
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The Athena Award was first presented in 1982 in Lansing, Mich. More than 4,500 individuals worldwide have been presented with the Athena Award since its inception.
