Joy HoneaJoy C. Honea, Ph.D.

Professor, Sociology, CAS

Dedicated to empowering women, supporting junior faculty and improving gender equity, Joy Honea, Ph.D., has devoted her career at MSU Billings to supporting women as she represents the “epitome

Honea has worked as a mentor to junior faculty of the university, not only in her field but across multiple departments. A colleague notes “many junior faculty members (myself included) have underscored how important she has been for our careers. Her institutional knowledge, careful understanding of policies, and enthusiasm for our successes have not gone unnoticed.”

Outside of her involvement in mentoring junior faculty, Honea was also involved in creation of the Women’s Studies Office, which has since been expanded into the Women’s and Gender Studies Center. Honea has helped with navigating the program and budget requests, creating ideas for the center, and hiring work study students. “There is no possible way that we could have done it without her,” says a colleague. “She was always willing to lend an ear and offer advice on teaching, research opportunities and important reminders related to work/life balance.”

Honea has also served as an integral part of the Women’s Faculty Caucus where she helped shape the supportive and intellectual atmosphere of female faulty members.

According to her nominator, however, one of Honea’s most important contributions to MSU Billings was her “tireless work to promote a more inclusive Family Leave Policy in our Collective Bargaining Agreement.” Through Honea and the work of her colleagues, the Faculty Modified Duties section was added to the Family Leave Policy.

Off campus, Honea is a leader in Billings and regionally. She served on the board of the Presidents Commission on the Status of University Women and served on the Social Science Research Team with colleagues at Montana State University on a National Science Foundation ADVNCE grant, focused on issues of institutional equity and increasing the representation of women in the sciences.

Honea is clearly deserving of the Dr. Tasneem Khaleel Award for Mentoring Young Female Professionals as she continues to mentor women at MSU Billings and advocates for the advancement of all women.