UW-Eau Claire Interim Chancellor Vicki Lord Larson received the 2005 Outstanding Achievement Award from the Wisconsin Women in Higher Education Leadership. The award was presented at its annual conference Oct. 20 and 21 at Marian College in Fond du Lac.
“When I first heard that I was going to receive the award, I was deeply honored and humbled by their selecting me,” Larson said.
Carol Sue Butts, 2003-2005 WWHEL president and provost and vice chancellor at UW-Platteville presented the award to Larson during the organization’s banquet on Oct. 20.
“She had overwhelming support from the members of the board,” Butts said of Larson’s selection by the Board of Directors at its retreat in June.
The WWHEL award is given each year to a woman working in Wisconsin who has made significant contributions to higher education and displayed leadership in a way that helped create new opportunities for women in higher education, Butts said.
Carole Halberg, special assistant to the chancellor and Eau Claire Foundation president said Larson has continued to show the high level of leadership that she had when first coming to the Eau Claire campus.
Larson first joined Eau Claire’s faculty in 1973 as an assistant professor of communicative disorders. She later became a professor as well as the chair of the communication disorders department in 1983, making her the first woman department chair in Eau Claire’s College of Arts and Sciences, according to university records.
In 1991, she became of dean of Graduate School and Research at UW-Oskosh as well as professor emerita within the department of communication, eventually serving as provost and vice chancellor in 1994.
From 2000 to 2001, Larson served as a consultant to the UW System president in Madison, where she worked on implementing the commission on the status of women initiatives. It was this work, Butts said, that really made Larson stand out to members of the board during the selection process.
“I think the fact that (UW System) President Reilly asked her to take on this interim responsibility – basically called her out of retirement – is a testimony to her leadership skills.
“I’ve noticed she likes a broad range of participation when there is a topic (that) needs to be discussed,” Halberg said.
Larson said, “It’s important that I hear everybody’s voice” before making any important decision.
Shortly after she assumed the duties of interim chancellor, the university had to make tough decisions concerning state budget cuts, said Steve Tallant, interim provost and vice chancellor of academic affairs.
“We have continued to go forth and deal with difficult issues and move the university forward,” he said of the university since Larson took on her duties as interim chancellor.
Tallant said Larson has positively affected not only the Eau Claire campus but also the entire UW System.
Larson returned to the Eau Claire campus in March after former chancellor Donald Mash accepted the position of executive senior vice president of the UW System. Larson will continue in the interim role until a new chancellor arrives on campus in 2006.
Halberg said Larson has proven her leadership through her service to higher education
“Leadership is taking advantage of the opportunity,” Halberg said. “When the door opens for somebody, and maybe even kicking it open a little more.”
