Past Recipients of the Alumnae Achievement Award
2023 | 2022 | 2020 and 2021 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | All Recipients by Class Year
2023
Virginia Broaddus Patel ’58
Virginia “Jinx” Broaddus Patel ’58 is the founding research director of Athens Research and Technology, which supplies research universities, institutions, and large pharmaceutical companies with research and diagnostic testing materials. For 27 years, Patel served as the principal investigator on more than 50 contract research projects funded by both for-profit and nonprofit entities, including Pfizer, the World Health Organization, and the National Institutes of Health.
She and her husband have lived in Athens, Georgia, for 54 years, where Patel has balanced work and raising a family with volunteering in her community. She has served as a board member for arts organizations, economic development foundations, and other community groups.
She studied biology at the College, earned her Ph.D. from Washington University, St. Louis, and has held research positions at the State University of New York at Buffalo and the University of Georgia.
Judith Phillips Stanton ’68
Judith Phillips Stanton’s The Collected Letters of Charlotte Smith (2004) has been foundational in restoring the reputation of this late 18th-century poet and novelist as the first romantic poet. Stanton compiled and edited the project over 26 years while she was a university professor, and later an independent scholar. She also published a number of articles on Smith’s
life and histories of building the collection of letters. Before publication, she shared the unpublished manuscripts document with fellow scholars and dissertation students.
While teaching at The University of Wisconsin Eau Claire and Clemson University, she was a leader in establishing minor curricula in gender studies and technical and scientific writing. Since the late 1990s, she has also published four historical romance novels, a contemporary equestrian suspense, her first chapbook of poetry, and now teaches creative writing courses for fun.
2022
Amanda Clark Fox ’67
Throughout her professional career, Amanda Clark Fox worked to advance in the corporate world, most recently as a partner with the global executive search firm Spencer Stuart of Chicago, while also remaining active in philanthropic work.
Over the years, she’s served on the board of directors for organizations as varied as the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and AccessLiving, which advocates for people with disabilities.
Her volunteer work with the Lyric Opera also led to the establishment, with her late husband Matthew, of an annual 10-week internship for a Randolph student.
Fox studied political science at the College and later served on its Board of Trustees, chairing the enrollment and presidential search committees and serving on the membership committee. She retired from the board in 2007 after 10 years of service.
Her professional career spans a number of industries. At Spencer Stuart, she directed searches for life sciences and insurance companies, leading a number of CEO succession assignments for most of the top companies in the insurance industry
Prior to that, she oversaw personnel and labor relations for three metropolitan newspapers in New York and Chicago; served as director of recruitment for the consumer products division of American Home Productions; directed professional manpower planning for Amoco Corporation; and was vice president of human resources and administration at Blue Cross/Blue Shield Association.
Sherrie Preische ’87
An astrophysicist by training, Sherrie Preische now works on election modeling as co-owner of FiftyOne Percent, a political polling and data analytics company.
She majored in physics with minors in mathematics and Asian Studies at the College before earning her Ph.D. in astrophysical sciences from Princeton University. Her work there involved fusion energy research in the Princeton Program in Plasma Physics.
Preische went on to do post-doctoral research in fusion energy through a fellowship awarded by the French Foreign Ministry for American scientists.
Before getting into politics, she served as the American Physical Society’s associate director for special projects, managing major public education activities that highlighted the contributions of physics to society.
In the late 1990s, she helped a fellow physicist, Rush Holt, win a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives and ran his New Jersey office.
Since then, she has led various state commissions involved with science and technology, the New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology among them. The state agency provides assistance to technology companies and research universities and has served as a policy advisor for several New Jersey governors.
Preische also worked as director of business development at the biotech firm Genmab and has advised multiple political campaigns. FiftyOne Percent works with state and federal candidates on polling and voter analytics.
2020 and 2021 – Full Story
Randolph College honored winners of its 2020 and 2021 Alumnae Achievement Awards during a virtual ceremony on June 3. Winners included Louisa Branscomb ’71, Jennifer Sullivan Hubbard ’95, Elizabeth Owen ’91, and Katy Worrilow ’80.
This year, recipients come from a variety of backgrounds, from music to the healthcare industry.
Louisa Branscomb ’71
Branscomb, a musician and clinical psychologist, has long focused on using creativity and the arts to help people overcome life’s challenges. After graduating from the College in 1971, she earned a master’s in science communication from Wake Forest University and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Georgia State University. In addition to her clinical work, she founded two nonprofits
Her songwriting has also brought her national recognition, including Grammy cuts on albums by Alison Krauss and John Denver, membership in the Alabama and Atlanta music halls of fame, and a Lifetime Achievement Award in Georgia. In 2017, the International Bluegrass Music Association awarded her its Distinguished Achievement Award
Jennifer Sullivan Hubbard ’95
Hubbard is founder of the Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary, named in honor of her daughter, who died during the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012. The sanctuary’s mission is to enrich lives by promoting compassion and acceptance, working to create a kinder, gentler world through programs that honor the bonds between humans and animals.
The 34-acre site currently includes community and pollinator gardens, an apiary, a pavilion, and a renovated barn, with plans for the eventual construction of a new main building and veterinary clinic. It’s also become an integral part of the Newtown community, offering programming onsite and in local schools. Hubbard wrote about her journey in the book Finding Sanctuary: How the Wild Work of Peace Restored the Heart of a Sandy Hook Mother.
Elizabeth Owen ’91
Owen’s life as a journalist has centered on educating the public on little-known parts of the world. Owen, who has a master’s degree in international relations from Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, began her career in Moscow, where she wrote for The Moscow Tribune and The Moscow Times.
She’s also worked for TIME Magazine Online, the PBS affiliate Thirteen/WNET, and EurasiaNet.org, racking up awards along the way for her work. Currently, she is English editor for Current Time TV, a Russian language TV and digital network.
Katy Colonna Worrilow ’80
Worrilow, who studied biology and mathematics at the College, earned her doctorate in anatomy and cell physiology at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. She’s spent most of her career as a clinical provider of in vitro fertilization, directing the IVF and andrology laboratories for several leading programs in Pennsylvania.
That work led her to start her own company, LifeAire Systems, in 2010, to address air quality issues in IVF labs. Their in-duct air purification system removes all airborne chemicals and biological pathogens, leading to improved success for IVF patients. When the COVID-19 pandemic began, Worrilow created a series of new products to help those in non-healthcare settings like office spaces or airports. The technology also was used to develop a portable system to sterilize N95 masks for safe reuse.
2019 – Full Story
During the 2019 Reunion, Randolph College recognized Judith Lefkowitz Kreeger ’62 and Russell Willis Taylor ’78 with the Alumnae Achievement Award. Kreeger has spent her career in the legal field, first as a lawyer and partner and finally as a judge. Her focus has centered heavily on family law, and she is one of just four judges designated by the United States Department of State to represent the United States as a member of the International Hague Network of Judges on cases related to international parental child abduction. Taylor has been a “mover and shaker” in the arts world for more than three decades here in America, across the pond, and even in Canada. Taylor is known for her extensive senior experience in strategic business planning, financial analysis and planning, and operational management. In fact, she’s the only American to be recognized with a Garrett Award for outstanding contribution to the arts in Britain.
2018 – Full Story
During the 2018 Reunion, Randolph College recognized Dorothy Braden Bruce ’42 with the Alumnae Achievement Award. She was part of the Army Signal Intelligence Service’s cryptology program, and worked to decode intercepted messages about troop deployments and supply ships from the Japanese navy. The information supplied by Bruce and the other codebreakers helped the U.S. Navy pinpoint and sink almost every supply ship heading to the Philippines or the South Pacific.
2017 – Full Story
On Saturday, September 16, 2017, Randolph College presented Alumnae Achievement Awards to two outstanding graduates, Carla Alexander ’68 and Lucy Williams Hooper ’73. Also during the ceremony, Randolph named Skip Kughn an honorary alumnus for his many years of service to the College.
2016 – Full story
Muriel Zimmerman Casey ’53
Muriel started her dedicated, three-decade long career at R-MWC in 1972 when she was hired as alumnae director. She retired in 2003 as the director of the R-MWC Alumnae Association.
Muriel’s volunteer service to the community include a member of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education in Washington D.C., an active member at Trinity Episcopal Church in Lynchburg, a board director for the Lynchburg Mental Health Association, a board director for the Woman’s Club of Lynchburg, and an active member for the American Association of University Women and the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Muriel is an invaluable icon in both the Randolph and Lynchburg communities.
Rebecca Dixon ’60
Rebecca has spent over 50 remarkable years in higher education. Her service to Randolph College includes her time on the Board of Trustees from 2003 until 2013 with a short hiatus from the Board in the spring of 2007 to help guide the College’s Admissions Department through the enrollment of its first co-educational class.
Rebecca continues to be involved in her community by volunteering as a docent for the Chicago Architecture Foundation where she leads boat and walking tours of downtown Chicago, as well as being an active volunteer at the Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago. Known for her expertise in international education, university admissions, financial aid, registration, records, and university program review, Rebecca has truly lived the life more abundant.
Heather Ayers Garnett ’86
Heather spent over 30 years at Randolph College working first in the summer programs department before moving to the alumnae office to work with Muriel Casey. Heather helped Randolph College through the transition to co-education as the director of alumnae and alumni. She has worked with many offices on campus, including Development, Admissions, and the Career Development Center. Throughout the strategic planning process, Heather has served as an ambassador for the College with alumnae across the country.
2015
Carol Shepard Gutknecht ’67
Carol is a nationally known opera singer and music educator. Making her opera debut in 1980 in the New York City Opera’s production of The Love for Three Oranges, she went on to perform with numerous opera companies including the Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Opera Company of Boston.
Her extensive repertoire includes roles in such classic masterpieces as La Traviata, La Boheme, and I Pagliacci, as well as premiering new works including Dominick Argento’s Casanova and Philip Glass’ The Civil Wars. Carol earned her master’s degree from the Northwestern University School of Music. She was an associate professor of music at McGill University and at Randolph-Macon Woman’s College and is today a vocal teacher and director.
Edna Aguirre Rehbein ’77
Edna graduated from R-MWC in 1977, and earned her master’s and Ph.D. in Spanish American literature and language from the University of Texas at Austin. She is fluent in both English and Spanish and continues to teach today.
She is currently the assistant vice president for academic affairs for the Texas State University Round Rock Campus. She has spent much of her career dedicated to Texas State’s Round Rock Campus, which has grown from just 100 students in 1998 to more than 2,000 today. These students are mostly non-traditional students, who work full time and attend classes in the evening. She has helped build the institution from a brand new campus of portable buildings to a full-fledged program serving a worthy constituent base.
Kakenya Ntaiya ’04
Kakenya is the founder and president of the non-profit Kakenya’s Dream and the Kakenya Center for Excellence, a boarding school for girls in her hometown. KCE is the first primary school for girls in Enoosaen.
The main focus of both the organization and the school is to uphold the human rights of girls. She believes that education will empower and motivate young girls to become agents of change in their community and country.
The center has about 170 students in grades fourth through eighth. In 2013, Kakenya was named one of CNN’s Top 10 Heroes, earned the Global Women’s Right Award from the Feminist Majority Foundation, and was recognized by the Women of the World as a “Woman of Impact.”
2014
On Saturday, September 20, 2014 President Bateman presented Ann Close ’56, Ellen Suthers ’73, and Gonul Velicelebi ’73 the Alumnae Achievement Award. The three alumnae were recognized for their outstanding service and accomplishments.
2013
On Saturday, September 20, Jolley Bruce Christman and Minor Michel Shaw, both class of 1969, received the Alumnae Achievement Award.
Jolley Bruce Christman ’69
The past president of the Board of Trustees, Trustee emerita Jolley Bruce Christman, is a leader, author, and educator recognized for her work in urban education. After graduating from R-MWC, Jolley taught English and social studies in an alternative high school while participating in the Experimental Program in Urban Education in Philadelphia. After completing her doctorate, Jolley worked for the School District of Philadelphia in the Office of Planning and Research. She also taught a course in qualitative research at her alma mater, the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1992, she co-founded Research for Action, a nonprofit organization engaged in education research and evaluation in urban school districts nationwide.
Minor Mickel Shaw ’69
Minor is a noted businesswoman, philanthropist, and civic leader. She began her education at R-MWC and received her bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She has received honorary doctorates from Clemson University, Wofford College, and Furman University.
The president of Micco, LLC, a private investment company, Minor has previously served as president of both the Micco Corporation and the Mickel Investment Group, as well as the chairwoman of the Daniel-Mickel Foundation.
Minor has been extremely active in her community, and received many honors and awards including the Whitney Young Humanitarian Award from the Urban League of the Upstate, the Athena Leadership Award, the Wilkins Award for Excellence in Civic Leadership, and the Order of the Palmetto, which is the highest civilian award in the state of South Carolina.
2012
On Saturday, September 15, we celebrated the accomplishments of Lynn Hume Stuart ’60 and Lois Combs Weinberg ’65 at the annual Alumnae Achievement Awards.
For four decades, Lynn Hume Stuart ’60 has contributed her time and talents in service to R-MWC, Randolph College, and the Lynchburg community. She has served as a leader in the Alumnae and Alumni Association and as a docent at the Maier Museum of Art. As a College trustee for 10 years, she focused on buildings and grounds projects and coordinated the development of the College’s Facilities Master Plan.
A history major with a knack for thorough research and conscientious organization, Lynn owned and operated a tour and travel company for 11 years with another Lynchburg alumna. Lynn is a tireless and thoughtful volunteer who, through her passion for community outreach, art, architecture, and travel, has touched many with her gifts as a facilitator and leader.
Lois Combs Weinberg ’65 is devoted to community action. She has spent 30 years tutoring children with learning differences and advocating for the parents and students. Beginning with an after school program, she recognized a broader need, garnered financial and legislative support, and founded a full-time school for dyslexics which operated for 19 years and served six counties in eastern Kentucky.
Currently, she is director of a non-profit institute that helps school teachers and administrators identify and remediate struggling learners with dyslexic characteristics.
2011
The College honored Dot Orgill Kirsh ’55 and Rie Meriwether Godsey ’77 as the 2011 Alumnae Achievement Award recipients on Saturday, September 17th.
For decades Dot Orgill Kirsh ’55 has volunteered, supported, and recruited others so that the fine arts and culture flourish in Memphis. She has been a docent animal presenter at the Memphis Zoo for over 10 years, working on zoo camps and education sessions for underprivileged youth, accompanying student groups, and teaching others as she cares for zoo animals.
She uses her persuasive talents to bring professional dance companies to Memphis to enliven the theatre scene. Dorothy has made a difference in her community by using her liberal arts education and philanthropy as her lens on the world.
An economics major first intent on a career in banking, Rie Meriwether Godsey ’77applied her love of serving others and followed her entrepreneurial intuition to found Meriwether Godsey, a residential school dining service and catering company in 1985.
Her philosophy on food service–think of every meal like a catered event–has differentiated her company significantly from others in the industry so that it now services 30 locations employing over 500 people in Virginia, the District of Columbia, Maryland, North Carolina, and Pennsylvannia with creative, wholesome menus, often influenced by locally-grown and seasonal foods.
2010
Alumnae from several decades, faculty, and over 70 students attended the awards presentation held on Saturday, September 11, 2010 to honor Suzanne Savedge Wescoat ’64 and Kathy Brown ’76.
2009
Randolph College recognized two outstanding alumnae on Saturday, September 19, 2009, with the Alumnae Achievement Awards.
Mary Martin Davis Bowen ’57, a community leader in education, local and national politics, and in nature conservation and preservation in her home state of Georgia, outlined in her entertaining acceptance remarks, “It’s okay to say okay.”
Meg Green Maguire ’65 was recognized for her leadership in preservation and conservation of the natural and built environments. Her reflections, titled “Community in Place“, she encouraged the Randolph students and faculty to engage in their community, wherever that may be–on campus, in their neighborhood or in the larger region, paying attention to the small details.
2008
In a presentation held on September 20 in Smith Hall Theatre, Renie Ferguson Steves ’58, an international culinary consultant, and Laura Geisel Sullivan ’74, a pathologist and hematologist, were each awarded the 2008 Alumnae Achievement Award. Introductions were given by President John Klein, followed by gracious remarks by both of the recipients.
2007
On Saturday, September 15, 2007, President Klein recognized the 2007 Alumnae Achievement Award recipients: Dorothy Johnson Lee ’48, Faye Crawford Cooper ’74, and Stephanie
Pope ’75.
2006
The Awards were presented Saturday, September 16, 2006. Alumnae recognized were: Betsy Kerr Hay ’65 and Marcia Y. Riggs ’80, and Virginia Muller Shapard ’57 .
2005
Alumnae, students, faculty, and community members convened to witness the 2005 Alumnae Achievement Awards ceremony in Smith Hall Theatre September 17. Honored were Susan Kelly Blue-Zeig ’66 , Kathy Morland Hammitt ’74 , and Virginia “Ginger” Hill Worden ’69.
Full List of All Recipients
- Pattie Ellis ’15*
- Lucy Somerville Howorth ’16*
- Eloise Parsons Baker ’17*
- Elizabeth Sherman ’20*
- Sallie Carroll ’20*
- Frances Rosser Brown ’21*
- Olive Hicks Brunn ’21*
- Kay Ehrman Thoresen ’23*
- Gail Burnett ’24*
- Gladys Hall Coates ’24*
- Mary Stuart Hurt Wood ’24*
- Jean Jones Perdue ’25*
- Jean Craig ’25*
- Mary Gaver ’27*
- Dorothy Gibboney ’27*
- Mildred Hudgins ’27*
- Mary Broughton Taylor ’30*
- Margaret Stockton Storey ’31*
- Sarah Tomerlin Lee ’32*
- Gini Wilson Laurie ’34*
- Jeannette McConnell Shorey ’34*
- Cissy Graves Davidson ’35*
- Susan Gray ’35*
- Beverley Stone ’36*
- Dorothy Swain Lewis ’36*
- Isablle Pettit Rucker ’39*
- Roberta Rymer Balfe ’39*
- Nan Black Ulle ’41*
- Elizabeth Campbell Campagna ’41*
- Ann Bell ’41*
- Frances Candler Shumway ’41*
- Dorothy Braden Bruce ’42*
- Helen McGehee Umana ’42*
- Florence Ridley ’44*
- Anne McCarty Braden ’45*
- Marian Engle Goetze ’47
- Martha Williams Morriss ’47*
- Martha Moore Sykes ’47*
- Mary Jean Wellford Lindner ’48
- Nancy Torbett Ford ’48*
- Jane Krause Paine ’48*
- Ann Caskey Brotherton ’48*
- Dorothy Johnson Lee ’48*
- Julia Gary ’51*
- Annie Robertson Massie ’52*
- Muriel Zimmerman Casey ’53
- Dorothy Orgill Kirsch ’55
- Ann Close ’56
- Bitsy Reaves ’57*
- Barbara Boyle Lemon ’57*
- Ginger Muller Shapard ’57
- Mary Martin Davis Bowen ’57
- Suzanne Summerville ’58
- Renie Ferguson Steves ’58
- Susie Goodman Elson ’59
- Jane Holmes Dixon ’59*
- Betty Jo Fite Hays ’59
- Lynn Hume Stuart ’60*
- Rebecca Dixon ’60
- Dorothy Sattes Ridings ’61
- Ann Jarvis Vest ’61
- Mary Elizabeth Wahrenbrock Hoinkes ’62
- Nora Kizer Bell ’62*
- Judith Lefkowitz Kreeger ’62
- Frances Mayes ’62
- Lynn Hardy Yeakel ’63
- Judith Evans Brown ’63
- Emily Squires ’63*
- Gene Davidson Dahmen ’63
- Karen Thoreson Schlesinger ’63
- Julie Block Milstien ’64
- Suzanne Savedge Wescoat ’64*
- Elizabeth Hay ’65
- Margaret Green Maguire ’65
- Lois Combs Weinberg ’65
- Carol Wood ’66
- Susan Kelly Blue ’66
- Liz Colton ’67
- Anne Tucker ’67
- Carolyn Richardson Aldige ’67
- Carter Heyward ’67
- Carol Shepard Gutknecht ’67
- Carla Alexander ’68
- Alice Harris ’69
- Ginger Hill Worden ’69
- Minor Mickel Shaw ’69
- Jolley Bruce Christman ’69
- Susan Webber Carter ’70
- Frank Hull ’70
- Evanda Gale Jefferson ’70
- Candy Alt Crowley ’70
- Elizabeth Grimm ’71
- Brenda Wilson ’72
- Ellen Suthers ’73
- Gonul Velicelebi ’73
- Lucy Williams Hooper ’73
- Kathy Morland Hammitt ’74
- Faye Crawford Cooper ’74
- Laura Geisel Sullivan ’74
- Stephanie Pope ’75
- Katherine Brown ’76
- Suzanne Patrick ’77
- Marie Meriwether Godsey ’77
- Edna Aguirre Rehbein ’77
- Russell Willis Taylor ’78
- Marcia Riggs ’80
- Blanche Lambert Lincoln ’82
- Heather Ayers Garnett ’86
- Kakenya Ntaiya ’04
* deceased
