Harriet Patsy Boyer Scholarship
Biography of Harriet Patsy Boyer
Description of Scholarship
Application Information
Past Winners
Dr. Patsy Boyer retired as Professor Emerita from the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures in Spring, 1997. After obtaining her Ph.D. in Spanish at the University of New Mexico in 1967, Dr. Boyer joined Colorado State University where she remained until her retirement.
A noted specialist in Spanish Golden Age Literature, Dr. Boyer taught a course on images of women in Spanish literature and included women writers in the other courses she taught. She published numerous works in her field, particularly analyzing Hispanic literature from a feminist perspective, and her translation of the two-volume series of novellas by the seventeenth century Spanish author Maria de Zayas [Sī yas] made this important feminist work available to readers of English, earning Dr. Boyer international recognition and respect.
In addition to her participation as a scholar in the major associations of her discipline and on the board of national scholarly journals, Dr. Boyer was a member of the Faculty Women’s Caucus and a faculty member in the Women's Interdisciplinary Studies program at Colorado State University. She wrote the Career Enhancement Grant, funded by the Southwest Institute for Research on Women, which eventually led to the Gender Integration Project, now the Women’s Studies Project on Teaching, Curriculum, and Scholarship, funded by Colorado State University.
Dr. Boyer also played an active role in departmental, college, and University governance, was a long-time member of the Colorado State University Faculty Council, and was the first female faculty representative to the university’s governing board.
The recipient of numerous awards, including the Oliver P. Pennock Distinguished Service Award, she was named the John N. Stern Distinguished Professor in 1997, the year she also received the first Women's Caucus Margaret Hazaleus Award for "exemplary inspiration to women on campus as teacher, scholar, mentor, and role model."
Dr. Boyer was perhaps most known for her generosity of spirit and her sense of importance of a true community of scholars. She is remembered with particular fondness by the generations of students she taught and mentored throughout her thirty years on campus. Upon her death in 2000, she left her estate largely to the Office of Women’s Programs and Studies to support gender-based courses and activities and the Harriet Patsy Boyer Scholarships.
Description of Scholarship
The Harriet Patsy Boyer Scholarship program has been established to increase opportunities for students to participate in scholarly activities that promote new understanding of women in culture and society. The Office of Women's Programs and Studies annually awards up to six scholarships, ranging from $3000 to $5000, to undergraduate and graduate students pursuing certification in the Women's Interdisciplinary Studies Program at Colorado State University.
All scholarships are based on merit rather than financial need. Selection for this award will be based upon the degree to which applicants demonstrate commitment to women's issues through academic study and participation in campus and community activities.
In addition, students applying for these scholarships must meet the following criteria:
- be a currently enrolled, full-time Colorado State University student, making satisfactory academic progress toward an undergraduate or graduate degree;
- maintain a minimum 2.50 GPA overall, with a 3.0 in all Women's Studies' courses;
- be currently enrolled in the Undergraduate Certification Program in Women's Studies at Colorado State University or be an admitted student in the Graduate Certification Program in Women's Studies at Colorado State University.
Application Information
Applications can be obtained at the Office of Women's Programs and Studies, 112 Student Services Building, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523-8200, or you can access the application electronically (doc, 41 kb).
APPLICATION DEADLINE FOR THE SCHOLARSHIPS IS JANUARY 30, 2009
Recipients will be notified by May 1, 2009 and honored at the Annual Harriet Patsy Boyer Scholarship Lecture in November, 2009.
Please contact the Office of Women's Programs and Studies for more information regarding specific deadlines for this academic year.