Rohany Nayan, a graduate fellow in the Lubar Institute for the Study of the Abrahamic Religions, has been named a recipient of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Outstanding Women of Color Award.
Nayan is one of four recipients this year, along with associate surgery professor Jacquelynn Dawn Arbuckle, law professor Tonya Lynn Brito and Dawn Bryant Crim, associate dean for external relations at the School of Education.
UW-Madison's Outstanding Women of Color Awards were established to recognize the outstanding accomplishments of women of color. This year’s recipients will be honored at a reception on Monday, Sept. 24 at 5 p.m. in the Alumni Lounge of the Pyle Center.
“Each year the committee is delighted to find women of color who are doing tremendous work on the campus and in the community,” said Ruby Paredes, assistant vice provost for diversity and climate.
Nayan is dedicated to forging long-term understanding among Jews, Christians and Muslims. She is heralded for her work as a Morgridge Graduate Fellow at the Lubar Institute, said Charles Cohen, Lubar Institute director. Nayan combines broad linguistic skills with exposure to cultures across the globe and is an effective mediator and engaging educator.
“She has advanced the cause of improving inter religious understanding both on and off campus more effectively than anyone else I know or can imagine,” Cohen said.
Nayan is director of LISAR’s Community Forum, which brings together adults from the greater Madison area to discuss and learn about each other’s traditions. Her reputation for knowledge, tact and insight on how to improve interfaith relations has mushroomed into outreach engagements ranging from school districts and campuses across the state to St. Mary’s Hospital and the Wisconsin Public Service Commission to churches of all denominations throughout the region.