The Violet Haas Award recognizes individuals, programs or departments at Purdue that have facilitated the advancement of women in hiring, promotion, education and salary, or have enhanced a positive professional climate for women at the University.  It was established in 1990 by the Council on the Status of Women (CSW), an organization that sought to provide a voice for all women at Purdue University. The award is now administered by the Susan Bulkeley Butler Center for Leadership Excellence.  The award is named for Violet Haas, an electrical engineering professor from 1962 to 1986, who was instrumental in the early development of the Purdue chapter of the Society of Women Engineers.

Patricia Davies has spent her career researching acoustics and noise control, and from 2005 to 2019 she served as the director of Herrick Labs.