Distinguished Alumnae Award

The Distinguished Alumna Award

2008 winner
Christine Gustafson

The 2008 recipient, Christine Gustafson, will be honored Friday, April 18, 2008. For a more information on Chris, click here.

Since 1991, the Center's Distinguished Alumna Award has honored such accomplished UVa alumnae as Katie Couric, Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, and astronaut Kathryn Thornton. The 2005 Distinguished Alumna award was given to Denise Geolot (SON '70), Director of the U.S. Division of Nursing in the Health Resources and Services Administration, who significantly shapes the quality and availability of health care for all Americans.

The award was established to recognize a female graduate of the University of Virginia who has demonstrated excellence, leadership and extraordinary commitment to her field, and who has used her talents as a positive force for change. Each year, we celebrate the honoree's accomplishments with the community via a Distinguished Lecture and a public reception. Throughout the year 2000, the Women's Center recognized the myriad ways women have been "shapers of the world" by sponsoring a daylong conference honoring all of our Distinguished Alumna Award recipients. Our past honorees include such outstanding women leaders as:

Jill Tietjen (2007) Jill (SEAS 1976) is a role model for young women seeking careers in math and science. After her election to the Mile Hi Council board in 1999, Jill wasted no time in establishing the Women in Engineering Program (WIEP) mathscience- engineering badge days for troops at CU-Boulder. For three years she co-chaired Camp CEO, an event that partners professional women with girls for a career-awakening weekend. Jill was recognized by the council as a Woman of Distinction in 1997. Jill Tietjen founded Technically Speaking, a motivational speaking service in 2000, in addition, she is a Senior Instructor in the College of Engineering at CU-Boulder and provides engineering consulting services both independently and as a Senior Engineer at McNeil Technologies. Previously, she directed the WIEP at CU-Boulder. Jill received her B.S. in Applied Mathematics (minor in Electrical Engineering) from the University of Virginia and her M.B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and is a registered professional engineer.

Dawn Staley (2006): Staley (BA 1992), was a three time All-American for the Cavaliers, as well as the National Player of the Year and the ACC Player and Rookie of the Year. Staley continued to play basketball in overseas leagues and the American Basketball League before she was drafted in the WNBA by the Charlotte Sting. Her athletic excellence was recognized worldwide when Staley was chosen to carry the American flag at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. Staley currently serves as the Head Coach for the Temple University women's basketball team.

Denise Geolot (2005): Geolot (Nursing 1970) is the current Director of the U.S. Division of Nursing in the Health Resources and Service Administration. After graduating from UVa, Geolot obtained her masterÕs degree and returned to Charlottesville to teach at the Nursing School. Under GeolotÕs supervision, the emergency nurse practitioner program gained national acclaim and became the model for university programs throughout the nation. Her exceptional work in Charlottesville earned Geolot a consultant position in the Department of Health and Human Services. In 2000, she was promoted to her current position, where she oversees the federal program for nursing workforce development. Geolot has received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties, as well as a number of University honors.

Janet Napolitano (2004): Napolitano (Law, 1983) is the current governor of the state of Arizona. Appointed by President Clinton as a United States Attorney, Napolitano used her leadership to push forth causes on behalf of children in particular; under her supervision, a notorious backlog of child abuse and endangerment cases was cleared, and a cyber-crimes unit developed to prosecute those who would prey on children on the Internet. As Governor, Napolitano continues to focus on the needs of a diverse state; her recent causes include procuring tribal housing for Native Americans, balancing the state budget, and building cross-party political alliances.

Lawton Fitt (2003): Fitt (MBA, 1979) is a recognized leader in the competitive world of investment banking. In her illustrious career at Goldman Sachs, she has overseen the IPO's of such outstanding performers as Yahoo! and eBay. Fitt has been named one of the "25 Most Influential People in Electronic Business" by Business Week and is one of Fortune's "50 Most Powerful Women in American Business." Fitt currently serves as the Secretary of the British Royal Academy of the Arts in London. She is the first woman, and the first American, to hold this prestigious position.

Dr. Hallam Hurt (2001): Hurt (Medicine, 1971) is a neonatologist who has focused her work on exploring the long-term outcomes of premature infants who are exposed to cocaine while in utero. Hurt's study's general conclusionsÑthat children born of cocaine using mothers did not fare significantly worse than their peersÑresonated deeply in scientific and public policy forums. While at Virginia, she became the first woman in the history of the department to be named Chief Resident of Pediatrics.

Rebecca Rimel (1999): In 1975 Rimel (Nursing, 1973) became the first nurse to join the University's Medical School faculty in the Department of Neurosurgery. Rimel became the manager for health programs in 1983 of the Philadelphia-based Pew Trusts, and nine years later she took the helm as Pew's President and CEO. Last year alone she dispensed more than $210 million in grants for a broad range of areas, one of which is health and human services.

Elaine Jones (1998): Jones (Law, 1970) was the first woman to graduate from the University of Virginia School of Law, and is widely considered the nation's top civil rights attorney. She was the first woman to head the NAACP Legal defense and Educational Fund (LDF). Jones monitors civil rights initiatives and federal judicial appointments, and has helped to pass many civil rights laws, including the Voting Rights Act amendments of 1982, and the Civil Rights Act of 1991.

Valerie Ackerman (1997): Ackerman (BA 1981), a former Cavalier basketball all-star and two-time academic All-American, is changing the face of professional sports for women. In 1988 she became the NBA staff attorney; soon afterwards she rose to the position of President of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), which started play in June 1997 with eight charter teams.

Admiral Mariann Stratton Nurse Corps, U.S. Navy, Retired (1996): Now retired, Rear Admiral Stratton (Masters, Nursing 1981) became a Navy nurse in 1966. During her tenure, she advocated equal promotion for military women before Congress and led the "Working Group on Prevention of Sexual Harassment for Women in the Navy and Marine Corps" following the 1991 Tailhook convention scandal.

Hanan Daud Khalil Mikhail-Ashrawi (1995): Ashrawi (Ph.D. 1982) is a well-known and eloquent spokeswoman for the Palestinian people who has played an instrumental role in peace negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis. Ashrawi helped to establish the Palestinian-Israeli Women's Network, and she is the founder of the Palestinian Independent Commission for Citizens' Rights.

Kathryn C. Thornton (1994): Thornton (M.S 1977, Ph.D. 1979) has been a member of the astronaut corps since 1985. She has flown on three space shuttle missions, including the successful effort to repair the Hubble Telescope in December 1993. She took her first shuttle flight in 1989 and returned to space in May 1992. Thornton is the first mother to walk in space, giving her the media nickname "Space Mom."

Katherine "Katie" Anne Couric (1993): Couric (BA 1979) is the co-anchor for NBC's Today show, and is widely admired for her warm personality and tough questions. She is perhaps best known for her newsmaking interviews, such as her two-hour phone-in session with presidential candidate Ross Perot, and her conversations with Anita Hill, Bill Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton and many other notable figures.

Vivian W. Pinn, M.D. (1992): The only African American and the only woman in her U.Va School of Medicine class (1967), Pinn is the inaugural Director of the Office Research on Women's Health at the National Institutes of Health. Her professional research interests have been in the field of renal pathology, minority medical education, health access, and increased screening for breast and cervical cancer.

Linda A. Fairstein (1991): Fairstein (UVa Law, 1972) is the Chief Prosecutor, Sex Crimes Unit of the New York District Attorney's Office and has drawn acclaim for writing crime fiction that uses the genre of the murder mystery to educate about sexual assault. Fairstein successfully pressed for New York's rape shield law, which keeps a woman's prior sexual activity from being brought up in cross-examination.