RSU’s Dr. Carolyn Taylor Named Woman of the Year

Dr. Carolyn Taylor, political science professor at Rogers State University, has been named one of 50 Women of the Year by the Journal Record of Oklahoma.

The Women of the Year, also known as “50 Making a Difference,” will be honored at a black-tie gala on Thursday, Sept. 25, at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City.

“We are truly proud of Dr. Taylor and are very appreciative of her dedicated leadership through the years at RSU,” said RSU President Dr. Larry Rice.

Oklahoma’s 2007 Centennial was a special year for Taylor, on many levels. The fifth-generation Oklahoman and former State Representative from Norman had her book, “Voices from the Heartland,” named as an official Centennial project and a finalist for the 2008 Oklahoma Book Award. A collection of personal essays from 50 of Oklahoma’s top women leaders, the book offers insights into the female leadership experience.

In her “day job,” Taylor is an associate professor of political science at RSU, and previously held academic positions in political science at both Oklahoma Baptist University and the University of Oklahoma.

She earned her bachelor’s degree in history and master’s degree in political science from OU, and completed her doctorate in political science at Oklahoma State University.

From 1984 to 1992 she was a member of the Oklahoma State House of Representatives, serving as chair of the Education Committee, as education subcommittee chair of the Appropriations and Budget Committee, and as a member of the Economic Development and Mental Health committees.

Among her extensive professional and community activities, she has served as an Education Program Advisory Committee member and a member of the Council on Instruction, both for the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education. She has been on the board of directors of Arvest Bank & Trust for many years. Currently she is a board member and selection committee member for the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence, an education foundation and selection committee member for the Oklahoma National Geographic Education Foundation, and a member of the Oklahoma Museum of Natural History’s Board of Visitors. Taylor also recently served as PTO president for her children’s school.

She is involved with more than a dozen academic, student and professional organizations and committees on the RSU campus and currently directs the President’s Leadership Class and Honors programs in addition to teaching full time at the university.

An academic and as well as historical author, Taylor’s efforts have been recognized with a number of honors, including induction into the Oklahoma Women’s Hall of Fame in 2007. She has also received the Top Ten Legislators of the Year honor from the Oklahoma Observer, the Pinnacle Award from the Tulsa Commission on the Status of Women, an Award of Merit from the Oklahoma Women in Education Administration and was elected to the Child Advocates Hall of Fame by the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy.