May 8, 2001

Contact: Margret Gries (509-963-1186/fax 509-963-1239/email: griesm@cwu.edu)

Ellensburg, WA - Dr. Karen Blair, Central Washington University history professor, will step into the spotlight Monday, May 14, when she receives Phi Kappa Phi (PKP) Scholar of the Year honors and leads a free, public presentation titled "A Search for Women in History. The free, public event, sponsored by the university's PKP chapter, begins at 4 p.m. in Grupe Center.

"I've been studying women's history for 25 years," Blair says, "and, by coincidence, this comes at exactly the 25th anniversary of my defense of my doctoral dissertation."

Blair points out the lecture will allow her "a nice opportunity to look back on my career and survey the ways that women's history have been satisfying to me intellectually and personally."

"Instead of just a presentation that summarizes my research findings, I will combine it with some autobiography - I've never done that in public before," Blair notes. "I want to talk about how the research gets accomplished, what are the frustrations and how its rewards are enduring."

The Central PKP Scholar of the Year Award is presented annually to a faculty member who has made exceptional contributions to their own scholarly field, demonstrated excellence in teaching and shared knowledge with colleagues and the public.

"Since this is a distinction that comes from campus colleagues, that makes it special," Blair says. "If the people who know you appreciate your work, it's a very good feeling."

The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi is the oldest and largest national honor society that recognizes and promotes superior scholarship in all academic disciplines in higher education. The CWU chapter was established in 1976 to recognize and encourage superior scholarship in all academic disciplines at Central.

CWU juniors who are scholastically in the top 5 percent of their class, or seniors who are scholastically in the upper 10 percent of their class are eligible for PKP membership.

In addition, a limited number of faculty and alumni who have achieved scholarly distinction are invited to become members.

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