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This report shares the impact of 50 years of CSWS history, research, programming, and advocacy at the University of Oregon.
Publication Year
2026
Articles
Past Lessons, Future Visions: CSWS 50th Anniversary Alumni Symposium
by Jenée Wilde, Senior Instructor, Department of English
On May 10, 2024, three panels of faculty affiliates, former grant fellows, and friends of the Center for the Study of Women in Society participated in our 50th Anniversary Alumni Symposium. The “Shaping a Feminist Research Center” leadership panel opened the event with stories of what influenced CSWS’s identity as a feminist research center over time. Next, the “Incubating Feminist Futures” special projects panel shared the history and important outcomes of several CSWS research interest groups and initiatives. Finally, the “Envisioning Feminist Futures” alumni panel discussed the long-term impacts of funding feminist research, scholarship, and creative work for UO graduate students and faculty.
For Love of a Feminist: Jane Grant, William Harris, and the “Fund for the Study of Women”
In 1975, retired financial analyst and Fortune editor William B. Harris willed most of his estate to establish the “University of Oregon Fund for the Study of Women.” By the end of 1984, the sum of his endowment amounted to just over $4 million, the largest single gift the university had ever received.1 At a time when women’s studies was struggling to gain ground in the academy, what led Harris to fund research on women? The story of the Center for the Study of Women in Society’s greatest benefactor begins and ends with his love of a feminist, Jane C. Grant.