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About Betsy Draine
Professor of English, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Betsy Draine received her B.A. from Mount Holyoke College in 1967 and her Ph.D. in English Literature from Temple University in 1976. Her research and academic publications focus on 20th century women novelists such as Doris Lessing, Jean Rhys, and Christina Stead.  In 1982 she received the Mark H. Ingraham Prize for her first book, Substance Under Pressure: Artistic Coherence and Evolving Form in the Novels of Doris Lessing.  For over a decade she served as Associate Editor of the journal Contemporary Literature.  

In recent years, a lifelong love for France has led to two publications that move beyond academia. She and her husband Michael Hinden have translated a cookbook by Jean-Luc Toussaint based on walnuts and the cuisine of Perigord, in southwest France, where they have a summer home. University of Wisconsin Press has just brought out their joint memoir, A Castle in the Backyard:The Dream of a House in France.

As Professor of English and Women Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Betsy Draine teaches modern literature in English, especially 20th Century British fiction from Woolf and Joyce to recent Booker-Prize novels. In April 1990, she received the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching. She has recently been elected Associate Chair of the English Department and will be guiding the English Department’s curriculum and its support for excellent teaching.  Over her 25 years at UW-Madison, she has served on numerous committees devoted to the improvement of curriculum, student services, and teaching quality. 

From Fall 1989 to Spring 1992, Betsy Draine chaired UW-Madison's Women's Studies Program, during which time the major in Women's Studies achieved permanent status and the core faculty grew from 9 to 14.  From fall 1992 to summer 1999, Professor Draine served as Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at University of Wisconsin-Madison.  Her chief responsibilities were gender equity for faculty and staff, implementation of faculty personnel policies (e.g., mentoring of junior faculty and post-tenure review of senior faculty) and coordination of professional development programs.  This was a half-time post, combined with her ongoing role as Professor of English and Women’s Studies.  Professor Draine acted as an ombuds for female faculty and academic staff with concerns about inequitable treatment.  She administered a gender equity pay adjustment for faculty; served as UW-Madison's representative in a UW System initiative to remedy unequal pay for women academic staff; led a group of women scientists in composing an Action Plan for Women in Science, Engineering and Mathematics; supported the Women Faculty Mentoring Program; administered the Spousal Hiring Program; made more "user friendly" both the parental leave policy and provisions for "stopping the tenure clock" for new parents; and worked with the Committee on Women in the University, the Child Care Committee, and other committees to improve conditions for women and families at UW-Madison.  In addition, she created a series of workshops for departmental chairs and center directors, to help these leaders develop a supportive climate for the work of faculty, staff, and students.  She also developed a parallel series of workshops for new and probationary faculty, which orients new faculty to the resources and policies of the university.  She chaired the Provost’s Work Group for Maximizing Human Resources, which created an action plan for improving work climate, professional development opportunities, and staff diversity.  In September 1998 Professor Draine was appointed Co-Chair of the Committee on the Status of Women in the University of Wisconsin System.  Working with Provost Vicki Larson of UW-Oshkosh, Professor Draine led the committee in conducting a gender climate survey, focus groups, statistical review, and analysis of the status of women at all University of Wisconsin System institutions.  The report, Equality for Women in the University of Wisconsin System: A Focus for Action in the Year 2000, was presented to President Lyall on October 25, 1999 and is now being implemented throughout the UW System.

 



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The Food for Thought Festival is coordinated by REAP.