Women's Leadership Awards Announced

Harvard College has selected Valerie MacMillan '98 as the first winner of the Harvard College Women's Leadership Award for her exceptional leadership skills.

"Valerie's accomplishments are tremendous, and the Committee felt strongly that her application most embodied the spirit and character of this award," said Karen Avery '87, assistant dean of Harvard College.

MacMillan, a government concentrator from Eagle, Idaho, was managing editor of the Harvard Crimson, taught civics in a Boston school, and designed and edited a booklet for incoming international students. She was one of four Harvard undergraduates to receive U.S. Rhodes Scholarships this year.

Also, the Hon. Margaret H. Marshall, associate justice on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, has been named the first recipient of the Harvard College Women's Professional Achievement Award.

"Judge Marshall was chosen for her exceptional leadership in her professional field and the way in which her leadership has impacted women and benefited the community and the State," Avery said.

The two awards are funded through an endowment established with a gift from Terrie Fried Bloom '75. The honors represent a collaboration between the Office of the Dean of Harvard College and the Women's Leadership Project, an undergraduate organization dedicated to increasing the number, effectiveness, and diversity of women leaders.

The student prize honors 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.

More than 50 undergraduates were nominated for the Harvard College Women's Leadership Award, and 41 of them completed an application by submitting an essay and a second recommendation letter, according to Avery.

"We had a tremendous response to our request for nominations," she said.

Because the pool included so many impressive candidates, the selection committee decided to bestow honorable mentions for the Women's Leadership Award on three students -- Nana Coleman '98, Kavita Kacholia '98, and Lamelle Rawlins '99 -- in recognition of their noteworthy accomplishments.

The selection committee included Avery; Professor of Government and of Sociology Theda Skocpol; Susan Vacca, 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.

The award recipients will be honored at a dinner and ceremony on April 13.