Amey Amory DeFriez '49, former chair of the board of trustees of Radcliffe College, will receive the College's highest honor when she is given the Helen Homans Gilbert Award for Distinguished Volunteer Service at a dinner to be held at the Cronkhite Graduate Center on Sunday, Oct. 19. The award, established in 1978, is given in recognition of demonstrated commitment to distinguished volunteer service.

DeFriez's many volunteer activities have focused primarily on the areas of health care and education. She served on the board of the Friends of Boston City Hospital, as a fundraiser for Harvard Medical School, and as a trustee for the Mind/Body Medical Institute at New England Deaconess Hospital. Her volunteer efforts in education have included both secondary and higher education; she has been a member of the Winsor School Corporation and has also served the Ethel Walker School as Alumnae Association president, trustee, and as the first woman president of that school's board. DeFriez was one of the incorporators of SPHERE Inc., a nonprofit corporation of 12 independent schools in the Hartford area. Among the many roles she has undertaken on behalf of independent schools, DeFriez served on a trustee committee of the National Association of Independent Schools, and later became cofounder and chair of the Independent School Chairman's Association.

In 1978, DeFriez was elected to Radcliffe College's board of trustees and, in 1980, was named chair, a position she held for 10 years. As a trustee, she supported plans for the expansion and redesign of Radcliffe's facilities, including the expansion of the Schlesinger Library and the renovation of the Radcliffe Gymnasium to house the Murray Research Center and the Radcliffe Dance Center. She also helped change Radcliffe's investment strategy, significantly improving the College's financial outlook. While chair of Radcliffe's board, she cofounded and chaired the Conference of Board Chairmen, a group of board chairs from small, independent, liberal arts colleges.

The Helen Homans Gilbert Award recognizes either continuing commitment to a single cause or involvement in a variety of volunteer activities; recipients are not limited to Radcliffe alumnae. The first award was given in 1978 to Helen Homans Gilbert, retiring chair of the Radcliffe Board of Trustees, the first woman president of the Harvard Board of Overseers, a member of the board of the Permanent Charity Fund, a member of the advisory council to the Massachusetts General Hospital School of Nursing, and a devoted worker for the United Way.

Past recipients have included Peggy Charren, founder and president of Action for Children's Television; Susan Lyman '49, former chairman of Radcliffe College board of trustees and a volunteer in numerous health and educational organizations; Barbara Robinson HRPBA '52, who helped establish the Cleveland Ballet and served as an overseer of Case Western Reserve University; Virginia Thornburgh, for service to improve conditions for persons challenged by physical and mental disabilities; and Anne Hazard Richardson '51, for service in mental health, literacy, and the struggle against drug addiction.