2008 Woodie Awards
Smith Honors Distinguished Women with Honorary Degrees
Issue date: 5/13/05 Section: News
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Hari Brissimi '48 is a leader in global refugee work. For two decades Brissimi served as director of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, the first woman to hold that position. In 1980, she led the resettlement of 250,000 refugees including Vietnamese boat people. Brissimi was sensitized to the plight of others early in life. Seeing her fellow Greek citizens suffer during the German occupation of 1941-44, Brissimi exchanged English lessons for food that she distributed to the needy.
Olympic gold-medal-winning soccer player Julie Foudy started and played every minute of the USA's five matches at the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games. After she made her first appearance with the national team in 1988 at the age of 16, Foudy went to Stanford University and majored in biology. A nine-year veteran of the U.S. National Women's Soccer Team, she is now its captain. Foudy has also assumed an activist role, participating in the 2003 Title IX Commission as president of the Women's Sports Foundation.
Gwen Ifill is a veteran print and television journalist. For nearly three decades, Ifill has covered the White House, Congress, presidential campaigns and government. A graduate of Simmons College in Boston, Ifill started her career in print journalism at the Boston Herald and wound a path to The New York Times. She transitioned to television in 1994, joining NBC News and covering the impeachment of President Clinton. Ifill is now moderator and managing editor of PBS's Washington Week and senior correspondent for The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.
Mary A. Simmonds '71 is president of the American Cancer Society. The Pennsylvania native is the first woman physician from her town of New Cumberland, earning her medical degree at the Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1975. A prominent breast cancer specialist, Simmonds has made major contributions in the research of pain relief. She co-founded the Pennsylvania Cancer Pain Initiative and served as medical director of the Hospice of Central Pennsylvania in 1986.
Olympic gold-medal-winning soccer player Julie Foudy started and played every minute of the USA's five matches at the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games. After she made her first appearance with the national team in 1988 at the age of 16, Foudy went to Stanford University and majored in biology. A nine-year veteran of the U.S. National Women's Soccer Team, she is now its captain. Foudy has also assumed an activist role, participating in the 2003 Title IX Commission as president of the Women's Sports Foundation.
Gwen Ifill is a veteran print and television journalist. For nearly three decades, Ifill has covered the White House, Congress, presidential campaigns and government. A graduate of Simmons College in Boston, Ifill started her career in print journalism at the Boston Herald and wound a path to The New York Times. She transitioned to television in 1994, joining NBC News and covering the impeachment of President Clinton. Ifill is now moderator and managing editor of PBS's Washington Week and senior correspondent for The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.
Mary A. Simmonds '71 is president of the American Cancer Society. The Pennsylvania native is the first woman physician from her town of New Cumberland, earning her medical degree at the Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1975. A prominent breast cancer specialist, Simmonds has made major contributions in the research of pain relief. She co-founded the Pennsylvania Cancer Pain Initiative and served as medical director of the Hospice of Central Pennsylvania in 1986.