Author: Bonnie Thornton Dill

Bonnie Thornton Dill is professor emerita of women, gender and sexuality studies and dean emerita of the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Maryland. As dean, she increased faculty diversity, launched the Arts for All initiative, boosted external research support by 50 percent, raised $80 million in gifts, and introduced a career-integrated curriculum. A pioneer in the study of race and gender, she has published three books and numerous articles, and founded two nationally renowned research centers that helped shape the field of intersectionality. She has served as vice president of the American Sociological Association, president of the National Women’s Studies Association, chair of the Advisory Board of Scholars for Ms. magazine, and board member of the Feminist Majority Foundation (publisher of Ms.). Currently, she co-leads two Mellon Foundation–funded projects—“Breaking the M.O.L.D.” and HuMetricsHSS—and recently received the 2025 UMD President’s Medal, the university’s highest honor.

‘Ms. Does Not Flinch’: Why Independent Feminist Journalism Matters

Bonnie Thornton Dill on the enduring power of Ms. magazine:

“Opening minds and eyes is what Ms. is about, and there has been no time when Ms. is more needed than it is today. …

“While major media outlets rarely, if ever, report on violence to abortion clinics and abortion providers … Ms. keeps a constant tab and a laser focus on that sort of violence, including how the deadly violence that targeted lawmakers in Minnesota was the result of antiabortion extremism. …

And what national media outlet is tracking the administration’s attacks on women and gender studies programs?”

‘Freedom Is Worth Struggle’: Bonnie Thornton Dill Accepts the University of Maryland’s Highest Honor

In her remarks accepting the University of Maryland’s highest honor, the President’s Medal, writer and anthropologist Bonnie Thornton Dill reflects on her decades of feminist scholarship and leadership:

“In these times, it might have been easier—or safer—to give this institution’s highest honor to some other deserving recipient. After all, much of my life’s work is under assault. Women’s and gender studies departments are being eliminated nationwide. Concepts that best express my scholarship have been targeted for censorship. Many of the books and sources that inform or cite my work have been banned. Continuing struggle and strategic action are essential if the ideals that I and so many others have championed are to be reestablished.”

“Our collective voices are most powerful in a community that nurtures the contributions of all members, harvests them to conduct our business collaboratively, and through that challenging process, creates bonds so strong they magnify our strength and the impact of our mission.”