STEPHENVILLE — Tarleton State University criminal justice Assistant Professor Dr. Rebecca Morrow has been named 2024 Emerging Leader by the Texas Women in Higher Education (TWHE).
Dr. Morrow was presented the award at the group’s annual conference in Corpus Christi recently. The award recognizes an early career professional who has given time, energy and creativity to enhance TWHE at the local or state level. Tarleton State was a platinum sponsor for this year’s conference.
An integral part of the Tarleton Women’s Mentoring Network (WMN) executive leadership team, Dr. Morrow was nominated by her peers for her campus initiatives to help WMN members locally and at the state level through TWHE.
“The work we do with these two organizations is so rewarding,” she said. “I was surprised and honored to receive this award, especially while surrounded by so many other deserving leaders in Texas.”
Dr. Morrow joins previous winners Kathy Pawelek (2023), Julie Schwab (2022), Dr. Annie Phillips Munson (2021), Dr. Martinella Dryburgh (2020) and Jenny Branson (2018).
“I am thrilled Texas Women in Higher Education is honoring Dr. Morrow,” said Tarleton’s TWHE institutional representative, Lora Helvie-Mason. “Since arriving at Tarleton in 2020, Dr. Morrow has become a leader within our Women’s Mentoring Network and on campus. She is truly deserving of this award.”
In 2023, Dr. Morrow received a TWHE grant to help support persistence in member writing projects on the way to tenure and doctorates. With the grant, a writing accountability group was formed; it continues to meet regularly.
Additionally, she supervised two undergraduate student researchers working to analyze data for Cross Timbers Family Services; she presented at the Research, Innovation and Economic Development conference in 2023 for her group’s President’s Excellence in Research Scholars grant project to study social services workers who advocate for and counsel crime victims; and she has used data collected on two Cross Timbers funding projects to complete an external grant application for a National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Grant designed to expand similar services to other rural communities in Texas.
She co-advises the Criminal Justice Society, a student group that conducts field visits and performs service work, and has volunteered at the Purple Pantry. She was named the College of Liberal and Fine Arts Engaged Scholar.
Dr. Morrow, a faculty affiliate for the Institute on Violence against Women and Human Trafficking, studies structural violence, especially related to gender and gender-based violence, through an examination of areas including sub-Saharan African, Native American reservations, Chicago neighborhoods and in rural communities. Her research highlights how interactions within social structures such as the criminal justice system, workplaces and homes can create an environment that causes violence or otherwise prevents individuals from living up to their full potential.
Her work contributes significantly to the study of intimate partner violence from a socio-ecological focus and to understanding that most survivors face violence that not only occurs in families but that is compounded in interactions with the criminal justice system.
Dr. Morrow holds a bachelor’s degree in English and a minor in women’s studies from the University of Wyoming, a master’s degree in sociology from Western Illinois University, and a doctorate in sociology from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
The Tarleton Women’s Mentoring Network began from a writing accountability group designed to help motivate faculty and staff to achieve their research goals. Over time, the conversations of the group shifted to more general support, encouragement and mentoring. WMN was formally created in August 2019, in connection with Texas Women in Higher Education and The Texas A&M System goals to support faculty and staff in the academy.
The informal group is focused on providing a sense of community, mentoring connections, networking opportunities, and social and professional development for Tarleton State faculty and staff. Any individual who supports women employed at Tarleton is welcome to participate without regard to gender, gender identity or gender expression. Visit www.tarleton.edu/womensmentoring and look for the “Get Involved” button. Semimonthly meetings occur on Zoom, and a slate of programs is scheduled. Tarleton State’s TWHE institutional representative, Dr. Lora Helvie-Mason, can be reached at [email protected].
A founding member of The Texas A&M System, Tarleton State University is breaking records — in enrollment, research, scholarship, athletics, philanthropy and engagement — while transforming the lives of approximately 18,000 students in Stephenville, Fort Worth, Waco, Bryan and online. For 125 years, Tarleton State has been committed to accessible higher education opportunities for all while helping students grow academically, socially and professionally through programs that emphasize real world learning and address regional, state and national needs.