ASU Regents' Professor named higher education 'Woman of the Year'

Rachel Fuchs, Arizona State University Regents’ Professor and Foundation Professor of History, has been named the 2014 Woman of the Year by the Arizona Women in Higher Education.

Fuchs received the prestigious award at the group's annual conference on June 20 in Flagstaff, Arizona. Recipients of this award are recognized for quality leadership that is inclusive, diverse, mentoring, team-oriented and collaborative with likeminded organizations.

“I am deeply honored with this award and what it signifies,” said Fuchs, a professor of history in the School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies at ASU. “For over thirty years I've been very fortunate in my own career, have striven to help other women in theirs and to advocate for issues that are relevant to all women in academia. Therefore, this award is very special and means a great deal to me.”

Arizona Women in Higher Education's mission is the advancement of women leaders in higher education. They provide information and counsel to constituencies within the higher education community regarding policies, issues, education and research that influence women’s equity, diversity and advancement. Staff members also work in collaboration with associations and other groups in higher education on ways to improve the status of women.

“Rachel Fuchs has consistently fought for the recognition and tenure of women scholars; [she has also] led national and international scholarly organizations, some devoted to women historians or women’s history,” said Pamela Stewart, a historian in ASU’s School of Letters & Sciences. “Rachel’s devotion to the archives urges me on, reminding me that I too have work to do – in the archives, in the classroom and in service at ASU and in my community.”

Before starting her tenure at ASU in 1983, Fuchs served as the founding director of Women’s Resource Office at Purdue University from 1981-1983.

She received her doctorate from Indiana University and both her bachelor's and master's from Boston University. A prolific and award-winning writer, the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Fuchs has authored six books and has three more in the works. As a historian of Europe, primarily of France, she has also written more than a dozen peer-reviewed journal articles and numerous book chapters, as well as lectured at international conferences on a variety of subjects tackling citizenship, family law, abandoned children, gender, abortion, paternity, sexuality and marriage.

Fuchs has also served on and chaired several boards and committees throughout her academic career. She was president of the Society for French Historical Studies, and is currently co-president of the Coordinating Council for Women in History.

The School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies is an academic unit in ASU's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.