The President's Council of Cornell Women (PCCW) at Cornell University has awarded 18 grants to help advance the careers of women in academia through support of the completion of dissertations and research leading to tenure and promotion.

The new grants bring the total number of research studies and projects supported by PCCW to 79 since the award program was established in 1992. The alumni group is building an endowment to ensure the funding of future grants and projects for women.

Two faculty members and 16 Ph.D. candidates are recipients of 1996 PCCW grants.

The faculty members are Susan Ashdown, assistant professor, Textiles and Apparel, for "Body Configuration as a Factor in the Fit of Clothing for Mature Women" and Ronit Simantov, assistant professor, Hematology/Oncology, Cornell Medical College, for "Mechanisms of Thrombosis in Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus."

Ph.D. candidates receiving PCCW grants are:

Elizabeth Barham, Rural Sociology, "Social Movements in Sustainable Agriculture: A Comparison of France and the United States"; Stacey Benton, Neurobiology and Behavior, "The Neuronal Substrates of Seasonal Variation in Bird Song: A Quantitative Study"; Elena Bobrovnikova, Center for Applied Mathematics, "Iterative Method of Least Squares"; Janie Brooks, Ecology and Systematics, "Chemical Signals on Leaf Surfaces: Keys to Recognition by Ovipositing Insects"; Nancy E. Grudens-Schuck, Education, "Participation, Learning and Leadership in an Environmental Program for Agriculture in Ontario, Canada"; Celia Harvey, Ecology and Systematics, "Forest Regeneration Within Agricultural Wind Breaks in Monteverde, Costa Rica"; Rachel Hastings, Mathematics, "Geometric Combinatorics at the Mathematical Science Institute"; Lisa Keister, Sociology, "Intercorporate Networks and the Dynamics of Firm Performance: A Proposal to Study the Impact of Business Group Structure on Firm Outcomes in the People's Republic of China."

Also, Michelle M. McClure, Ecology and Systematics, "Evolution and Development of Pigmentation Patterns of Fishes in the Genus Danio (Teleostei: Cyprinidae)"; Helga Ochoterena-Booth, Ecology and Systematics, "Monographic Study of the Genus Hintonia Bullock (Rubiacea)"; Aneta Pavlenko, Linguistics, "Bilingualism and Cognition"; Marcia Ramos, Electrical Engineering, "Activity Selected Image and Video Coding"; Courtney Spencer, Chemistry," A Synthetic Search for Ferroelectric Sulfides: Potential Nlo Materials"; Yongmei Cindy Wang, Electrical Engineering, "A Novel Analog/Digital Secure Communications Approach Using Chaos"; Rachel Weber, City and Regional Planning, "The State as Stake Holder: Corporate Governance and Defense Industry Conversion"; and Denise M. Weilmeier, Food Science, "The Mechanism of Phosphates as Antioxidant in Atlantic Mackerel (Scomber Scombrus, L.) White Muscle."

PCCW was established in 1990 as an advisory council to the university's president, with the mission of improving the status and advancing the leadership of women faculty, staff , students and alumnae both on campus and in constituent groups. There are approximately 250 members, invited by the president to serve three-year renewable terms. All current women trustees serve as ex-officio members.

Information about PCCW is available from the PCCW office on the third floor of 626 Thurston Ave., (607) 255-6624.