Oswego has not ignored her many contributions. The highest distinction that a faculty member can receive at SUNY Oswego for scholarly research is the "President's Award for Creative and Scholarly Activity and Research", which Dr. Forbes received in 1986. This documents the recognition of faculty colleagues at SUNY-Oswego. The L.E.A.D. Center, which helps to develop leadership skills, especially of minority students, has bestowed on Dr. Forbes four "Most Outstanding Advisor" awards.
In the area of program development, Professor Forbes has been coordinator and director of two interdisciplinary programs: International Studies and Women's Studies. She was Coordinator of International Studies from 1985-1991 during which she organized a speaker series that reached out to the campus, the community and to the world. The International Studies minor was developed and approved by the Oswego faculty under Dr. Forbes' leadership.
While Professor Forbes has been actively involved in the Women's Studies Program since its inception, she has provided dynamic leadership for the program as its Director since 1995. She has created a speaker series for Women's Studies that brings together campus and community people. As director, Dr. Forbes has established a Women's Studies Website, a listserv, a luncheon forum series and sponsored other related programs on campus. The Women's Studies Minor is alive, well, and thriving. However, perhaps the most important contribution Dr. Forbes has made in the area of Women's Studies has been leading the interdisciplinary Women's Studies faculty in the development a new Women's Studies major degree program approved by State Education and SUNY System Administration in the Spring of 1999.
Dr. Forbes' energy is boundless. She never says no to a request for assistance, is never too busy to write letters of references for colleagues, as well as for her students. She really cares about people and will always walk any number of extra miles to assist anyone who asks. Scholars, colleagues and students have described Professor Forbes as energetic, exceptional, gifted, generous and prolific.
But what does Dr. Forbes think about Dr. Forbes? First, she says she has not done anything as well as she would have liked. She has not, for example, written the book she would still like to write. What is that book? She has a draft and a title which is "Women, Photography and History." She is very interested in how people fashion themselves, create their identity and project that identity to others. Photographs, she says, can be used to control our identity. Dr. Forbes is considered a pioneer in collecting copies of historic photographs, thereby expanding the categories of sources available to document the lives of women in India. She is an innovator in using visual material as documentary evidence. We look forward to the monograph. Second, she wants to be a better teacher. She calls herself process oriented, and wants to see if "I could ever get it right as a teacher." Third, does she ever plan to retire? "No, not really." Dr. Forbes says she will always be involved in academia and will continue with many of her current activities. Retirement makes it possible, she says, "really to indulge your research, I mean really indulge it; do it and have fun doing it." She also wants to live in China for a year, spend winters in India, and build a house in India. And, yes, she has already chosen the site.
For almost three decades, Geraldine Forbes has undertaken a remarkable effort to preserve the life histories of women in India. Along the way she has critiqued the work and teaching of many of us and pushed, urged and cajoled us to do our very best. But what she expects from us pales in comparison to what she demands of herself.