![\"Headshots](\"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/women-ed2-mar24.jpeg\")
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When Baylor was chartered in 1845, it was one of the first coeducational colleges or universities west of the Mississippi River — about 10 years before any public institution of higher learning would introduce mixed-gender learning, and a full 75 years before American women were guaranteed the right to vote.<\/p>\n
Since that groundbreaking beginning, countless women have come through the halls of Baylor before going on to do amazing things. Here\u2019s a look at some Baylor Bears who have made big impacts in education — at Baylor and beyond:<\/p>\n
![\"Lily](\"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/russell-mar22.jpg\")
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Lily McIlroy Russell<\/strong><\/a> (1911) held multiple roles at Baylor from 1926-58, and was beloved by students who knew her.<\/p>\n Russell served in a wide variety of roles over her 30+ years at Baylor, serving as an English instructor, dean of women, director of public relations, dean of the then-new Student Union Building, and the university’s official historian at different times. She also chaired Baylor’s Centennial Committee leading up to the university’s 100th birthday in 1945. Although she was unable to finish a history of Baylor before her death in 1958, Lois Smith Douglas Murray Strain and Sue Moore used her research to complete her dream two decades later with Baylor at Independence<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n (Other early female deans and chairs at Baylor include Roxy Grove<\/strong><\/a>, chair of the School of Music from 1926-42; Dr. Lorena Stretch<\/strong><\/a>, dean of the School of Education from 1935-57; and Margaret Amsler<\/strong><\/a>, acting dean of Baylor Law School in 1946.)<\/p>\n Gladys Allen<\/strong><\/a> (1918) was a teacher, Baylor trustee, and researcher on education.<\/p>\n Allen served two terms as a Baylor trustee, from 1941-47 and 1951-53. During that time, she also conducted research in order to disprove notions concerning perceived gender inequalities at Baylor. This work played a large part in the university reclaiming admittance to the national chapter of the American Association of University Women (AAUW), an organization which promotes educational opportunities for women and girls. Her name is immortalized on the Baylor campus through Allen Residence Hall<\/a>.<\/p>\n Dr. Bettye Caldwell<\/a><\/strong> (BA ’45) drew national attention to the need for early childhood education.<\/p>\n Caldwell was an avid proponent of a pre-kindergarten program that prepared poor children for elementary school — something taken as a matter-of-fact in modern-day early childhood education. In the early 1960s, as director of the Children\u2019s Center at Syracuse University, she collaborated on a pilot project that suggested children born to poor families developed normally until they were about 1 year old, but then declined intellectually compared with their peers. Her work paved the way for the creation of Head Start<\/a>, which has provided educational, nutritional, health and other services to more than 30 million children since 1965.<\/p>\n Dr. Vivienne Malone-Mayes<\/a><\/strong> was a widely-respected mathematician who became Baylor\u2019s first Black professor in 1966.<\/p>\n In 1961, when Malone-Mayes decided to get her Ph.D. in mathematics, she applied to Baylor — but was rejected because of her race. By the time she had completed her doctoral studies at UT, Baylor had officially integrated, and in a beautiful twist of fate, the university hired her as its first Black professor. Adored by her students, Malone-Mayes also was a leader in education statewide and nationally, including roles as director-at-large for the Texas section of the Mathematical Association of America, a member of the board of directors for the National Association of Mathematics, and as a member of the executive committee of the Association of Women in Mathematics. She was honored with a permanent display<\/a> in the Sid Richardson Building (home to the math department) in 2019.<\/p>\n Donna Denton<\/a><\/strong> (BBA \u201948) was Baylor\u2019s first female vice president.<\/p>\n Denton actually started her education at the University of Texas, but transferred to Baylor for her senior year, where she was one of the few female students studying accounting. After graduating, she became Waco’s first female CPA. She then moved to Oklahoma to work with the Tulsa Oil and Gas Estate before becoming the first female computer programmer at Houston’s Humble Oil. Finally, she returned to Baylor in 1962 as an internal auditor, eventually becoming vice president of financial affairs from 1972-94.<\/p>\n Ann Miller<\/strong><\/a> (BA ’49, MA ’51) was part of Baylor\u2019s first class of Master Teachers.<\/p>\n After studying at Baylor under the legendary Dr. A.J. Armstrong, Miller joined the Baylor English faculty in 1961. Over the years, she also led the \u201cBaylor in the British Isles\u201d study abroad program, an interdisciplinary seminar in medical humanities, and college Sunday school classes at First Baptist Waco. In her 40+ years of teaching, Miller received countless honors for her teaching; most notably, she was honored as one of Baylor\u2019s first two Master Teachers in 1982. In 2003, she was awarded an honorary doctorate from Baylor.<\/p>\n (Since Miller, seven other women have been honored as Baylor Master Teachers: Tommye Lou Davis<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(BA \u201966, MS \u201968) in 1993, Helen Ligon<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0in 2003, Rachel Moore<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>(MA \u201969) in 2004, Laine Scales<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and Dr. Gaynor Yancey<\/a><\/strong> in 2016, Dr. Anne-Marie Schultz<\/a><\/strong> in 2020, and Dr. Lenore Wright<\/a><\/strong> in 2025.)<\/p>\n Dr. Diana Garland<\/a><\/strong> was the founding dean of the Baylor School of Social Work<\/a>.<\/p>\n Garland came to Baylor as a professor in 1997, when social work was still a degree track within the College of Arts & Sciences. Social work became its own department in 1999, and Garland was named chair two years later. When the School of Social Work was officially established in 2005, Garland was named dean. Since then, the school has grown to offer four degrees (BSW, MSW in-person and online, and PhD) and rank among the top 25% of social work graduate schools nationwide. Garland can certainly be credited with the school\u2019s identity, infusing social work with our Christian faith. Just before her passing in 2015, the school was renamed the Diana R. Garland School of Social Work in her honor.<\/p>\n Dr. Elizabeth Davis<\/a><\/strong> (BBA \u201984) was Baylor\u2019s first female provost — essentially, the school’s chief academic officer.<\/p>\n After earning her business degree from Baylor in 1984, Davis returned to her alma mater as a professor of accounting in 1992. She later served as an associate dean in the Hankamer School of Business and vice provost for financial and academic administration. Davis was named interim provost in 2008 and was named to the position in earnest in 2010, becoming the first woman to serve as Baylor\u2019s top academic officer. In 2014, she was named president of Furman University.<\/p>\n (Davis is one of seven Baylor alumnae who currently lead colleges and universities across the nation, joining Dr. Debbie Cottrell<\/a><\/strong> (BSED ’79) at Texas Lutheran University, Dr. Pamela Durso<\/a><\/strong> (BA ’83, PhD ’92) at Central Baptist Theological Seminary, Dr. Mary Hensley<\/strong><\/a> (EDD \u201989) at Blinn College, Dr. Amanda Lee<\/strong><\/a> (BA \u201988, MA \u201990) at Bladen Community College, Dr. Jessica Pace<\/a><\/strong> (EDD ’23) at Panola College,\u00a0and Dr. Kathy Schwaig<\/a><\/strong> (BBA ’84, MBA ’86) at Kennesaw State University.)<\/p>\n Dr. Linda Livingstone<\/a><\/strong> is the 15th president of Baylor University — the university’s first female president.<\/p>\n A distinguished scholar and academic leader, Livingstone taught in Baylor’s Hankamer School of Business before becoming dean of the business schools at Pepperdine and then George Washington University.\u00a0Since being named Baylor\u2019s president in 2017, Livingstone has overseen the development of Baylor\u2019s academic strategic plan, Illuminate<\/a>,<\/em> which details Baylor\u2019s plans to become a preeminent Christian research university; led the successful $1.1 billion Give Light<\/a><\/em> campaign; and guided Baylor to R1 status<\/a> for the first time.<\/p>\n (Women in leadership at Baylor also extend beyond President Livingstone. Dr. Nancy Brickhouse<\/a><\/strong> (BA \u201982) serves as provost (chief academic officer). Cheryl Gochis<\/strong><\/a> (BA \u201991, MA \u201994) is vice president for human resources and chief human resources officer. Dr. Robyn Driskell<\/strong><\/a> (BA \u201991, MA \u201993) is vice president and chief compliance & risk officer. Sharra Hynes<\/a><\/strong> is vice president for student life. Tiffany Hogue<\/a><\/strong> (BA ’95) is chief of staff to the president. Kristy Orr<\/a><\/strong> (JD ’03) is board professional. Dr. Luci Ramos Hoppe<\/a><\/strong> (BA ’02, MSW ’05) is interim dean of the Garland School of Social Work, Dr. Linda Plank<\/a><\/strong> (BSN ’77) is dean of the Louise Herrington School of Nursing, and Dr. Shanna Hagan-Burke<\/a><\/strong> is dean of the School of Education.)<\/p>\n These are just a handful of the countless Baylor women who have made (and who continue to make) their marks in education. Of course, there\u2019s not enough room (even on a blog) to list every notable Baylor woman; if there\u2019s someone you think particularly deserves to be honored, please let us know<\/a>!<\/p>\n You might also like:<\/em><\/strong> When Baylor was chartered in 1845, it was one of the first coeducational colleges or universities west of the Mississippi River — about 10 years before any public institution of higher learning would introduce mixed-gender learning, and a full 75 years before American women were guaranteed the right to vote. Since that groundbreaking beginning, countless […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,7,20,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alumni","category-extraordinary-stories","category-history","category-honors"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24319\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\n![\"Headshot](\"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/garland-women-ed-mar24.jpg\")
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\n![\"Dr.](\"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/livingstone-women-ed-mar24.jpg\")
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\n* Meet 10 Baylor women who blazed new trails in the sciences & engineering<\/a><\/em>
\n* Meet 10 Baylor women who have made their marks in law & politics<\/a>
\n* Meet 15 Baylor women who have made names for themselves in the arts<\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n[updated March 2026]<\/em><\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"