Daily Pioneer News

PLATTEVILLE-The University of Wisconsin-Platteville student organization Women in Industrial Technology recently held a banquet honoring women preparing for work in the field of industrial technologies. During the reception, WIIT advisor Lyn Bouck pointed out that graduates of the industrial studies program will work in non-traditional, male-dominated career fields. Madison Lebahn, a junior industrial studies occupational safety major and vice president of WIIT, is not deterred by this fact. "What drove me into this field was the opportunity to help others help themselves," she explained. "There are so many options in the field of safety that there will always be something exciting out there to do."

Jeni Montavon, senior building construction management major and president of WIIT, is similarly undaunted. "I'm in building construction management because it's what I love to do," she said. "It doesn't bother me being one of the few females in this program."

WIIT serves to create an atmosphere at UWP that supports, mentors and promotes the value of women working toward a degree in industrial technology management. Women can find that atmosphere in the newly renovated Women's Advancement Center, located in Room 100 of Russell Hall. The WAC provides a designated area for female industrial studies students to network with other students, professors and professionals. "It helps me by providing a quiet study atmosphere, other women to speak with about our majors and just a great place to have meetings and socialize," explained Lebahn.

The highlight of the banquet was the announcement of the first recipient of a scholarship geared towards women in the industrial studies department at UWP. The scholarship is named for pilot Ruth Harman-Walraven. "Ruth is a Wisconsin woman in a non-traditional field who had a dream and a commitment to achieve her goals," explained Bouck.

Harman-Walraven was born in 1913 and was a trailblazer as a female pilot in the middle part of the 20th century. Harman-Walraven got hooked on the thrill of aviation after a single ride in an airplane and earned her pilot's license before she reached the age of 20. She went on to a career in aviation marked by broken barriers. She was both the first female stunt pilot and first female to manage an airport in the state. In the 1940s, Harman-Walraven was one of only 50 female instructors nationwide, and the only in Wisconsin, for the Civilian Pilot Training program that trained Navy flight cadets during WWII. She passed away in 1993 and was inducted into the Wisconsin Aviation Hall of Fame in 1999.

After members of WIIT researched local woman who have made a difference for women in non-traditional fields and decided upon Harman-Walraven, the group contacted her daughter Teri Cromwell to request that she award the first scholarship. Cromwell agreed and traveled from California to UWP to present the scholarship bearing her mother's name. During her address, she recalled asking her mother how she dealt with working in a field made up mostly of men. Cromwell relayed her mother's response, "Teri, I respected them and they respected me; not once have I had a problem."

The first recipient of the Ruth Harman-Walraven Scholarship was Jeni Montavon, a native of Mendota, Ill. Cromwell complimented Montavon as she was awarded the scholarship, "Jeni, you are goal-oriented, you don't let obstacles stand in the way and you clearly evoke the spirit of my mother Ruth."

"Receiving this scholarship means a lot to me," said Montavon. "When I think of Ruth and of her accomplishments in her lifetime, to receive this scholarship makes me feel like I'm making a difference. Ruth was an amazing person and I just hope I can be half the person she was."

The Ruth Harman-Walraven Scholarship is awarded to a woman who has declared a major in industrial technology management or technology education. Preference will be given to new freshmen and new transfer students but it can be given out to a continuing student.

Anyone wanting more information about the scholarship may contact Bouck at (608) 342-1141 or bouckl@uwplatt.edu.

Contact: Lyn Bouck, WIIT advisor and UWP professor of occupational safety management, (608) 342-1141, bouckl@uwplatt.edu. Written by: Ryan Broege, UWP Public Relations, (608) 342-1194, broeger@uwplatt.edu.