Women of Distinction

Cynthia Young (left) and Linda Walters (right) present awards to J. Marla Toyne, Shannon Carter and Belinda Boyd

Three UCF faculty members were presented with the annual Women of Distinction award by the university’s Center for Success of Women Faculty, with award funding from President Hitt’s Office. The awards recognize some of the unique ways that faculty members contribute to the success of UCF.

The recipients chosen this year for excellence in innovation were:

J. Marla Toyne, Ph.D., an assistant professor in her fifth year at UCF in the Department of Anthropology within the College of Sciences. Toyne calls herself a vertical archeologist and spends her field seasons high on the sides of rocky cliffs in northeastern Peru studying the mortuary cliff tombs of the indigenous people. Toyne has involved numerous UCF students in her project which also requires the support of professional rock climbers and spelunkers. She is a recipient of National Geographic funding as well as funding from the Petzl Foundation, a group that specifically supports science in vertical environments.

Shannon Carter, Ph.D., an associate professor of sociology in the Department of Sociology within the College of Sciences. The title of her application essay was “Women’s Empowerment through Reproductive Justice” and she is an international leader in this field.  She has examined institutional barriers to breastfeeding in the workplace, the economy and healthcare system. Carter and her colleagues have attracted a lot of positive media, especially through NPR, associated with breastmilk sharing.

Belinda (Be) Boyd, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Theatre in the School for Performing Arts. Boyd has been at UCF for 14 years and during this time she has transformed many lives.  According to one of her nominators, “Her work is unusual in that it does not just train actors, but trains performers who are fully in touch with their mind, body and spirit. She is a sought after workshop leader in the entertainment, education and theatre community. Plain and simple, people have noticed that her work gets results.”  Most recently, she received an excellence award from the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival.

The UCF Women of Distinction awards were presented at the UCF Women Faculty Reception on Thursday, September 8, 2016. The event is hosted by the President’s Office, UCF Center for Success of Women Faculty and UCF Women’s and Gender Studies.