The American Association of University Women (AAUW) Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 24, 2017
Media Contact: Lisa Goodnight, goodnightl@aauw.org 202.785.7738
Assistant Professor Dr. Zinga A. Fraser Receives A Prestigious AAUW Award Named a 2017-2018 Postdoctoral Fellow Awarded from one of the world’s oldest fellowship programs for women
WASHINGTON — The American Association of University Women (
AAUW) awarded a 2017–18 AAUW American Fellowship to Dr. Zinga Fraser. She is an Assistant Professor in Africana Studies and Women’s and Gender Studies at Brooklyn College.
American Fellowships, AAUW’s largest funding program, date back to 1888, making them one of the oldest and most prestigious fellowship programs in the world exclusively for women. AAUW American Fellowships support women scholars who are completing doctoral dissertations, conducting postdoctoral research, or finishing research for publication.
“As an AAUW American Fellow I will be researching and working on my book manuscript entitled, Sister Insider/ Sister Outsider: Shirley Chisholm and Barbara Jordan, Black Women’s Politics in the Post Civil Rights Era.” Fraser said. “I am honored to receive this prestigious fellowship that will allow me to complete this most important and timely work on Black women’s politics. This work hopes to transform not only how we understand the political lives of Congresswomen Shirley Chisholm and Barbara Jordan but also understand the ways in which Black women help us reimagine democracy in the U.S. ” she continued. This book will be the first comparative study of Black Congressional women.
Dr. Fraser is the Director of the Shirley Chisholm Project on Brooklyn Women’s Activism at Brooklyn College. Professor Fraser‘s work focuses on African American and Women’s Politics, Black Women’s History, U.S. social movements and Race and inequality. She has published works in Souls: A Critical Journal of Black Politics, Culture and Society, the Association of Black Women’s Historians and Phillis: A Journal of African American Women’s History. As a former Congressional staffer on Capitol Hill her work engages the efforts by Black political leadership and African American communities to address institutional inequalities within public policy. Prof. Fraser received her B.A. from Temple University; M.A. from Columbia University; and Ph.D. in African American Studies from Northwestern University.
“AAUW American Fellows go on to do great things. Several have served as college or university presidents. Others have blazed new trails. I’m just in awe of them,” said Gloria Blackwell, AAUW vice president of fellowships, grants, and global programs. “AAUW is proud to award these prestigious fellowships to our newest class of scholars.”
For the 2017–18 academic year AAUW awarded a total of $3.7 million through six fellowships and grants programs to 250 scholars, research projects, and programs promoting education and equity for women and girls. AAUW is one of the world’s leading supporters of graduate women’s education, having awarded more than $100 million in fellowships, grants, and awards to 12,000 women from more than 140 countries since 1888.
Read AAUW’s announcement about this year’s awards. To find out more about this year’s exceptional class of awardees, visit the online directory. To reach an award recipient, call 202.728.7602 or email fellowships@aauw.org. ###
The American Association of University Women (AAUW) empowers women and girls through advocacy, education, philanthropy, and research. Our nonpartisan, nonprofit organization has more than 170,000 members and supporters across the United States, as well as 1,000 local branches and more than 800 college and university members. Since AAUW’s founding in 1881, our members have examined and taken positions on the fundamental issues of the day — educational, social, economic, and political. Learn more atand join us at www.aauw.org.
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