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Hanna Gray to Receive Harvard Honor
Cambridge, Mass. - April 5, 2004 - Hanna Holborn Gray, Ph.D. '57, historian of humanism and political thought in the Renaissance and the Reformation, Fellow of Harvard College, and president emeritus of the University of Chicago, has been named the recipient of the 2004 Harvard College Women's Professional Achievement Award. Also, Lindsay Nicole Hyde, a Harvard senior, is the student winner of the 2004 Harvard College Women's Leadership Award. Both, being honored for exceptional leadership skills, will receive their awards at a ceremony and dinner on April 21, 2004, at the Charles Hotel in Cambridge, Mass.
Gray was selected for her trail-blazing service in academia. "Hanna Gray was the first woman named president of a major research university in this country. An adviser to three Harvard presidents, first as Overseer and now Fellow, she is widely admired for her powerful intellect and her staunch defense of fundamental principles of scholarship in a context of institutional renewal and change. She has received over 60 honorary degrees as well as the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. She is an outstanding role model for our students, and I am pleased that Harvard College will celebrate her exceptional leadership and her notable achievements," said Julia G. Fox, assistant dean of Harvard College and director of the Ann Radcliffe Trust in Harvard College.
Hyde, a concentrator in Women's Studies and Sociology, is also a Glamour Magazine "Top 10 College Women" award winner. Her dedicated and enthusiastic leadership in community service through Strong Women, Strong Girls, a program that she founded, has had a profound affect on her fellow students. Hyde's potential was recognized shortly after her arrival at Harvard. Wendy Torrance, Hyde's assistant dean in her freshman year, stated in her nomination letter, "[Lindsay] stood out from among my more than 500 students as an enthusiastic presence and student leader." "She is a force to be reckoned with," wrote Jason Kaufman, John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Social Sciences, in his nomination letter; "a powerful advocate for women's issues; and exactly the kind of student we should recognize and encourage as a future public leader and women's advocate."
In addition to recognition of Gray and Hyde, the College will honor seniors Sarah Levit-Shore and Julia Appel, both honorable mentions for the Women's Leadership Award, in recognition of their many noteworthy achievements.
Now in their seventh year, the Harvard College Women's Leadership Awards are funded through an endowment established with a gift from Harvard alumna Terrie Fried Bloom '75. The Harvard College Women's Leadership Awards are part of the Ann Radcliffe Trust in Harvard College, a resource for women undergraduates, which seeks to raise the visibility of women and women's issues at Harvard and beyond.
The student prize goes to a junior or senior who has demonstrated exceptional leadership while attending Harvard, contributed toward the advancement of women, achieved meaningful impact on fellow students, and exhibited a potential for leadership in future endeavors.
"We are very excited by the support the award continues to receive from the Harvard community," said Fox. "The selection committee faced an exceedingly difficult challenge in choosing one award recipient from such an incredibly strong and deserving pool of outstanding candidates."
The selection committee included Fox; Judith Palfrey, T. Berry Brazelton Professor of Pediatrics; Susan Vacca '76, Associate Director and Librarian in the FAS Office of Career Services; Corinne Funk '97, emerita member of the Executive Board of the Women's Leadership Project; and Amy Zegart '89, a member of the Women's Leadership Project Advisory Board.
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