Alumnae Honors

A diploma from Barnard College is, in itself, its own special reward, but at Reunion, the College celebrates those outstanding alumnae who have made the entire community proud. To determine the winners, the Alumnae Association’s Reunion committee culls class members’ recommendations and, after some head-scratching, votes on the honorees. During the Reunion weekend, awards are presented at the Friday luncheon and Saturday dinner.

Some notes on the awards: The Woman of Achievement Award dates to 1979 and acknowledges not only achievement but dedication—to career, quality of life, and improvement of society. It is one of the Association’s highest honors. The Distinguished Alumna Award, instituted in 1967, goes to someone who personifies the ideals of a liberal-arts education and has achieved public and/or professional distinction in her field. The Award for Service to Barnard honors tireless and devoted volunteers. These last two categories permit multiple awards. First granted in 2002, the recipient of the Young Alumna Award must have graduated five, 10, or 15 years before Reunion; the newest, the Millicent Carey McIntosh Feminism Award, is given to an alumna who exemplifies the strong, independent traditions of Barnard.

Woman of Achievement Award

Dr. Alison Estabrook ’74

Chief of breast surgery and director of the Comprehensive Breast Center at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital…Professor of clinical surgery at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center…Associate director of the Cancer Center at Beth Israel Medical Center…Co-founder of Women at Risk, which offers medical care to women at the highest risk for breast cancer...Creator of support groups, a resource library, and lecture series for high-risk women… Named a top doctor in New York, in the U.S., and for women

Distinguished Alumna Award

Maria Hinojosa ’84

Award-winning (including a 2008 Emmy) journalist and author, senior correspondent for PBS news magazine Now since 2005…Anchor and managing editor of NPR’s Latino USA, a program devoted to Latino news and culture… Former CNN correspondent… Acclaimed memoir, Raising Raul: An Adventure in Raising Myself and My Son (1999), explores her role as Mexican- American career woman, wife, and mother…One of Hispanic Business’s “100 Most Influential Latinos in the U.S.”

Young Alumna Award

Joya Banerjee ’04

Double-major, human rights and political science, now a master’s candidate in the department of global health and population at Harvard School of Public Health…Internship at Amnesty International…Co-founder of the Global Youth Coalition on HIV/ AIDS, a network of 6,000 young people addressing the virus in 150 countries… Initiated Columbia University student organization Columbia Global Justice, to promote awareness of HIV/AIDS and of health care as a human right

Millicent Carey McIntosh Award for Feminism

Professor Estelle Freedman ’69

Women’s history and feminist studies historian…Honors in history at Barnard; PhD, Columbia…Teacher, Princeton and Stanford...Co-founder, Program of Feminist Studies, Stanford…2009-10 Fellow, Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavior Sciences…Author of several books including, No Turning Back: The History of Feminism and the Future of Women; editor, The Essential Feminist Reader, anthology of feminist history primary documents

Millicent Carey McIntosh Award for Feminism

Ann Brashares ’89

Philosophy major...Author who began her first novel, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, in 2000…Three sequels, The Second Summer of the Sisterhood, Girls in Pants, and Forever in Blue, followed in the next five years…Sisterhood became a feature film released by Warner Bros. in 2005, a second film appeared in 2008…Fifth novel, The Last Summer of (You and Me), published in 2007...3 Willows published in 2009...All six books have been New York Times bestsellers

Distinguished Alumna Award

Honorable Margot Botsford ’69

Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court…Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude, Barnard; JD, Northeastern University law school; MPA, Harvard’s JFK School of Government…Named associate justice of Massachusetts Superior Court in1989; Gov. Deval Patrick appointed her to the Supreme Judicial Court in 2007…Taught at Northeastern University, Boston University, and others…Winner of many awards for judicial excellence and distinguished judicial service

Service to Barnard College

Daphne Fodor Philipson ’69

European-history major with a master’s from Columbia’s business school… CPA in the State of New York…Former partner at E.M. Warburg Pincus & Co. focused on investor relations…Retired in 1998 to do volunteer work…Member and former chair of the board of Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic…Member, Leadership Council of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America…Member, AABC Fellowship, Leadership Council, Barnard Fund committees...Fund chair for the Class of 1969

Service to Barnard College

Arlene Kelley Winer ’54

Teacher, Westchester County, 37 years…History major with a master’s from Columbia’s Teachers College…Class President since 1994…Board member, Barnard-in-Westchester Club; former member, Reunion and nominating committees; member, Project Continuum subcommittee...Preserved Barnard memories through two oral histories of alumnae who served in World War II, and outstanding alumnae and leaders, including Millicent McIntosh, in honor of Barnard’s Centennial

-Photographs by David Wentworth