New Director Takes Helm at Women's Center

The new director at the UC Women's Center is new to West Campus, but not to UC. Barbara A. Rinto became head of the women's center in September.

For the previous four years, Rinto served as the administrative director/senior research associate at the Women's Health Program in the College of Medicine. In that role, she developed a new multidisciplinary program to encourage the inclusion of women's health and gender differences in medical education, research and clinical care. She worked in partnership with faculty members in the colleges of Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy.

The UC Women's Center she now heads provides a variety of student programming on women's issues, sexual assault awareness and prevention, eating disorders, women of color, and gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgenders. It is located in the south pavilion atop Zimmer Hall.

In addition to her duties at the Women's Center, Rinto is completing work on medical school curriculum concerning cardiovascular health in women and continues work on a grant focusing on intimate partner violence. That project includes several UC faculty. In conjunction with that, Rinto will serve as a co-editor of a special edition of the International Journal of Violence Against Women.

Rinto has worked for more than 20 years in the area of women's health. She holds a master's degree in public administration from Cleveland State University and a bachelor's degree in sociology from Kent State University. She also completed the Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Rinto currently serves as the vice-chairperson and board member of the FreeStore/FoodBank and on the Leadership Council of the Women's Fund of the Greater Cincinnati Foundation.