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"Why Educating Girls Matters" topic for BYU address March 11

17th annual Martin B. Hickman Outstanding Scholar Lecture

The chair of Brigham Young University’s Sociology Department, Renata T. Forste, will be the speaker at the 17th annual Martin B. Hickman Outstanding Scholar Lecture Thursday, March 11, at 7 p.m. in 250 Spencer W. Kimball Tower.

Her lecture will be titled “Maternal Education and Child Health: Why Educating Girls Matters.” It is open to the public, and a reception will follow.

The annual award — named for a former dean of the College of Family, Home and Social Sciences — honors BYU professors for academic work and research that contributes to the recognition of the university and to society’s understanding. Recipients are also chosen for their selflessness in advancing the careers of their peers and students.

Forste is a professor of sociology and teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in social statistics, sociology and the sociology of gender. Her research focuses on patterns of family formation and child well-being in Latin America and the United States. She is also the director of the BYU Women’s Studies Program.

She received degrees in sociology at BYU and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. She returned to BYU in 1995 to teach after having been an assistant professor at Western Washington University. Since coming to BYU, she has served as associate dean of the College of Family, Home and Social Sciences and as director of Latin American Studies at the David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies.

For more information, contact Patricia Wilson at (801) 422-1355.

Writer: Brandon Garrett

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