Donna Edna Shalala is an American politician and academic serving as the U.S. Representative for Florida's 27th congressional district since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as the 18th United States Secretary of Health and Human Services under President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 2001.
Eileen Marie Collins is a retired NASA astronaut and United States Air Force colonel. A former military instructor and test pilot, Collins was the first female pilot and first female commander of a Space Shuttle. She was awarded several medals for her work. Colonel Collins has logged 38 days 8 hours and 20 minutes in outer space. Collins retired on May 1, 2006, to pursue private interests, including service as a board member of USAA.
Mary Jane McLeod Bethune was an American educator, stateswoman, philanthropist, humanitarian, and civil rights activist best known for starting a private school for African-American students in Daytona Beach, Florida and co-founding UNCF on April 25, 1944 with William Trent and Frederick D. Patterson. She attracted donations of time and money and developed the academic school as a college. It later continued to develop as Bethune-Cookman University. She also was appointed as a national adviser to the president Franklin D. Roosevelt as part of what was known as his Black Cabinet. She was known as "The First Lady of The Struggle" because of her commitment to gain better lives for African Americans.
Regina S. Peruggi is an American educator who was the President of Kingsborough Community College from 2005 to 2014, the first woman to hold that position in the college's 40-year history. Prior to that she was President of Marymount Manhattan College and led the Central Park Conservancy.
Nancy Hogshead-Makar, J.D., née Nancy Lynn Hogshead, is an American swimmer who represented the United States at the 1984 Summer Olympics, where she won three gold medals and one silver medal. She is currently the CEO of Champion Women, an organization leading targeted efforts to advocate for equality and accountability in sport. Focus areas include equal play, such as traditional Title IX compliance in athletic departments, sexual harassment, abuse and assault, as well as employment, pregnancy, and LGBT discrimination. In 2012 she began working on legislative changes to assure club and Olympic sports athletes were as protected from sexual abuse. In 2018, the Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and SafeSport Authorization Act was finally enacted.
Charles R. Middleton served as the President of Roosevelt University from 2002 to 2015 when he retired.
M. Anthony Burns is an American businessman and chairman emeritus of the board of directors of Ryder System, Inc., an American-based provider of transportation and supply chain management products. He currently serves as managing owner/chairman of Red Ledges Land Development, Inc. in Heber City, Utah, and as a member of the boards of directors of Pfizer Inc. and Huntsman Corporation. He is a life trustee of the University of Miami Board of Trustees.
Lynn Schusterman is an American billionaire philanthropist. She is the co-founder and chair of the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, and founder of several other philanthropic initiatives including the Schusterman-Israel Foundation, the ROI Community and the Jerusalem Season of Culture.
Dr. Joe Anna Hibler is an American educator. Much of her career was spent teaching business at the university level. Retired from active teaching, she is the former president of Southwestern Oklahoma State University (SWOSU), an inductee into the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame, and currently a regent of the Regional University System of Oklahoma.
Ginny Creveling is the former Executive Director of the ONEOK foundation and a champion of numerous causes and organizations in Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States. She played a vital role in the creation of the Rainbow House in 1977, a child abuse prevention program and crisis nursery, the first of its kind, which paved the way for later organizations such as the Child Abuse Network and the Parent Child Center. She has served as a community leader in race and ethnic relations with the Oklahoma Conference for Community and Justice. In 2007, Creveling was inducted into the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame for her volunteer and advocacy work.
Patricia M. Collins is an American civic leader and politician. She was a two-term Mayor of Caribou, Maine from 1981 to 1982. She has chaired numerous local and state boards and organizations, including the Caribou School Board, the Maine Committee for Judicial Responsibility and Disability, Catholic Charities Maine, and the University of Maine Board of Trustees. She was inducted into the Maine Women's Hall of Fame in 2005. She is also the matriarch of a political family: her husband, Donald Collins, is a former mayor of Caribou and four-term state senator, and her daughter, Susan Collins, is the senior United States Senator from Maine.
Dorothy F. Bailey is a civic leader from Prince George's County, Maryland. She served on the county council for eight years, serving two terms as Chairman. She has served on the boards of many national and local organizations, including the National Council of Negro Women and the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH). She established the county's Harlem Renaissance Festival, which has been held annually since 1999, and founded several community organizations. She was inducted into the Maryland Women's Hall of Fame in 2014.
Kathleen Nagler Straus served as a member of the Michigan State Board of Education from 1993–2016. She has been continuously involved in civic organizations in Michigan, since moving to Detroit in 1952. Her volunteer and professional roles have included the Presidency of the League of Women Voters of Detroit, Executive Director of People and Responsible Organizations (PRO) for Detroit, President of the Michigan State Board of Education, and Secretary of the National Association of State Boards of Education.
Josie Ward Heath is an American politician, community activist and educator. She studied at East Oregon State College and graduated in 1959 with a degree in education, followed by a Master of Science in 1960 from the University of Wisconsin. She married Rollie Heath, and they lived in West Germany for 4 years while her husband worked for the military. Upon return to the U.S. the family moved to Boulder, where Josie began her involvement in community organizations and politics.
Carol Jenkins Barnett is an American philanthropist and businesswoman, the daughter of George W. Jenkins, the founder of Publix Super Markets. Jenkins Barnett has served as president of Publix Super Markets Charities and as a member of the board of directors of Publix Super Markets. She has been included in a Forbes magazine list of The World's Billionaires every year since 2008.
Tonjua Harris Williams is an American academic and the current President of St. Petersburg College in St. Petersburg, Florida. SPC is a community college with 63,000 students across 11 campuses and centers throughout Pinellas County.
Merle Catherine Chambers is an American lawyer, business executive, and philanthropist. She founded and served as CEO of Axem Resources, a private oil and gas exploration and production company, from 1980 to 1997, and since 1997 is the president and CEO of Leith Ventures, a private investment firm. She chairs the Merle Chambers Fund, which supports justice, equality and opportunity; women's economic self-sufficiency; and the early care and education of children. She is also an active political contributor in Colorado, focusing on Democratic and women candidates. The recipient of numerous awards and honors, she was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 2004, the Rocky Mountain Oil & Gas Hall of Fame in 2009, and the Colorado Business Hall of Fame in 2010.
Anna C. Petteys (1892-1970) was an American education activist, newspaper woman, lecturer and politician in the mid-20th century. She was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 2008.
Bernadine Newsom Denning was an educator and civil rights activist recognised in the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame.
Fay Biles is an American academic and college sports coach. She was the first woman to serve in a vice presidency role at an Ohio university. As a head coach of the field hockey and lacrosse teams, she logged more victories than any other coach in Kent State University history. She was inducted into the Ohio Women's Hall of Fame in 1986.
