Lynn Gangone, dean of the Women’s College at DU since 2007 and associate clinical professor of education at the Morgridge College of Education, was named one of the top 25 most powerful women in Denver this September by the Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce (CWCC) for their 25 year anniversary.
The “CWCC Top 25 Gala: Recognizing Limitless Leaders” event in January will recognize these powerful women, Gangone included, for their positions in various avenues around Denver based on impact, connectivity and thought leadership.
As dean of the Women’s College, Gangone has increased enrollment, worked to expand student scholarship and helped shape new academic programs, according to her DU portfolio.
The Women’s College is an academic home to many women from a myriad of backgrounds, including mothers, first-time college students and women returning for further education.
The college offers classes in the evenings and on weekends, making it easier for busy women to explore higher education.
As a dean, Gangone is the academic leader of the Women’s College and is responsible for all aspect of managing the school.
“There is such great pride in a university investing in a women’s college,” said Gangone.
Gangone believes that DU offers support for the Women’s College.
“I am deeply grateful to DU, I love being a member of the DU community and I get to fulfill my dream of running a women’s college,” said Gangone.
The oldest child in her family, Gangone was the first to pursue higher education despite being challenged by a teacher who said she couldn’t get in.
Once accepted into The College of New Rochelle, a small Catholic women’s college in New Rochelle, N.Y., Gangone pursued a degree in political science and history with plans to become a lawyer, a profession that was finally opening up for women during the 1970’s.
During college, Gangone held two work-study positions, one in the dean of students’ office and another in the academic dean’s office. As a women’s college, The College of New Rochelle employed women in leadership positions, inspiring Gangone to consider the idea of women’s roles in higher education.
“My area of interest was how do we help women get jobs and get training in areas that are nontraditional for women? Today we would call that STEM (science, technology, engineering and math),” said Gangone.
After college, Gangone spent six years focusing on gender equity, educating children of both gender about career choices and expectations.
“Between this women’s college experience and thinking about a career in higher education, and then having this experience working in the field of gender equity, I became really committed to thinking about how do we create a world where men and women and boys and girls have equal opportunity,” said Gangone.
In 1987, Gangone went on to become the dean of students at Centenary College, a small Methodist college in New Jersey before moving to Washington D.C. to run the National Association for Women in Education, founded in 1916 as the National Association for Dean’s of Women.
These were the first women in co-educational institutions whose function was to serve, support and advocate for female students as colleges and universities became co-educational and began accepting both men and women into their programs.
“I led that organization for five years and that really solidified with me this commitment that I had [been] thinking about: where do women sit in leadership roles in higher education and other sectors?” said Gangone.
She then became a lobbyist for four years in Maryland, lobbying for private colleges and universities.
“Everything I did was not always necessarily on college campus but it was always attached to higher education, and either my vocation, or in my volunteer work I was always really engaged with how do I create the capacity for women to be in leadership roles, in whatever sector they are looking at, and particularly my love is higher education,” said Gangone.
After working as a visiting professor at George Washington University, Gangone accepted the Deanship of the Women’s College at DU in June 2006.
“I think [that] I can say with all honesty that I always had a goal of running a women’s college,” said Gangone.
Gangone hopes being named one of the top 25 most powerful woman in Denver will help her work toward her ultimate goal of equal opportunities in education for women.
“Did I always dream I would be a powerful woman? No,” said Gangone.
She recognizes the influence she will have with this recognition.
“If anything I wanted to be in a position where who I was and where I was could have influence to pave greater paths for women who would follow me. And so if the 25 Most Powerful Women in Denver gets me some of that, that’s great,” said Gangone.
