Held annually in conjunction with the National Conference for College Women Student Leaders presented by AAUW and NASPA, the Women of Distinction program pays tribute to women leaders who have made extraordinary accomplishments in their professions or their communities. The women highlighted are leaders in their fields, innovators of unique programs and services, and prime examples of lifelong commitments to promoting equity for women and girls everywhere.

The Women of Distinction program not only honors excellence, but also ingenuity and the ability to overcome barriers that still exist for women. Women selected for this honor represent a number of different professional fields and the diversity of personal characteristics and life experiences of women.

With their commitment to women, international issues, and public service, these women serve as role models for us all.

2008
Maya Ajmera, Founder and President of the Global Fund for Children
Jovita Carranza, Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration
Majora Carter, Founder and Executive Director, Sustainable South Bronx
Kimberly Dozier, Award-winning journalist
Evelyn "Pat" Foote, U.S. Army, Brigadier General (ret.)

2007
Deborah Bial,, President and Founder, The Posse Foundation
Caryn G. Mathes, General Manager, WAMU 88.5 FM
Alison Malmon, President and Executive Director, Active Minds, Inc.
Asra Q. Nomani, Writer-Activist
María Otero, President and CEO, ACCION International

2006
Consuelo Castillo Kickbusch, Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army (retired); Author; and Founder, Educational Achievement Services
Beverly Tatum, Ph.D., President of Spelman College; Clinical Psychologist
Eve Ensler, Playwright; Performer; Activist; and Founder of V-Day
Rebecca Walker, Author; Co-Founder, Third Wave Foundation
Bernice Sandler, Scholar and Author, will be given a special 2006 NCCWSL Award for Achievement in Sexual Harassment Education

2005
Jehmu Greene, President, Rock the Vote
Rachel Muir, Founder and Executive Director, Girlstart
Eleanor Smeal, President, Feminist Majority Foundation
Gail Wyatt, Psychologist and Sex Educator

2004
Dominique Dawes, Olympic Medalist; Activist; and President-elect, Women’s Sports Foundation
Amy Richards, Co-founder, Third Wave Foundation; Author; and Consultant
Linda Sánchez, U.S. Representative From California
Stacey Davis Stewart, President and Chief Executive Officer, Fannie Mae Foundation
Deborah Tannen, University Professor of Linguistics, Georgetown University
Marie C. Wilson, President, The White House Project, and Former President, The Ms. Foundation for Women

2002
Sarita E. Brown, President and Chief Executive Officer, Hispanic Scholarship Fund Institute
Kendra Fox-Davis, Training Director, Center for Third World Organizing
Ruth B. Mandel, Director, Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers University, and Board of Governors Professor of Politics, Rutgers University
Jane E. Smith, Chief Executive Officer, Business and Professional Women/USA
Melanne Verveer, Chair, Vital Voices Global Partnership
Belle S. Wheelan, Secretary of Education, Commonwealth of Virginia

2000
Sheila Trice Bell, National Association of College and University Attorneys
Danise Jones-Dorsey, Catholic Charities USA
Elizabeth Lisboa-Farrow, DC Chamber of Commerce, LISBOA, Inc.
Joan Rector McGlockton, Sodexho Marriott Services
Sharon Murphy, Mary House

1999
Joyce Hale, Paralympic Medalist
Marie C. Johns, Bell Atlantic, Washington, D.C.
Ruth Watson Lubic, D.C. Developing Families Center
Indira Nair, Carnegie Mellon University
Angela E. Oh, University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law

1998
Sharon Barbano, Women’s Sports Marketing Group
Susan Blumenthal, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Amy Cohen, Plaintiff, Landmark Title IX Case
Laura Groppe, Girl Games Inc.
Sylvia Peters, Whole Village/Whole Nation, Inc.
Eva M. Plaza, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Jennifer Sheehy, National Organization on Disability
Luci Tapahonso, Navajo Poet and English Professor
Wilma L. Vaught, U.S. Air Force, Retired

1997
Bettie Baca, U.S. Department of Commerce
Mary Chapin Carpenter, Singer/Songwriter and Grammy Award Winner
Rita Dove, University of Virginia and Poet Laureate of the United States
Nancy Gruver, New Moon Publishing
M. Charito Kruvant, Creative Associates International, Inc.
Blanche Lambert Lincoln, U.S. Representative
Aimee Mullins, Paralympic and Olympic Medalist

1996
Kavelle R. Bajaj, I-Net, Inc.
Norma V. Cantu, U.S. Department of Education
Deborah J. Doxtator, Oneida Nation of Wisconsin
A. Danielle England-Dansiker, Fire Battalion Chief, Maryland
Margaret B. Rawson, Author and Dyslexia Educator
Carolyn S. Shoemaker, U.S. Geological Survey
Isabel Carter Stewart, Girls Inc.

1995
Ada E. Deer, Bureau of Indian Affairs
Shannon Richey Faulkner, The Citadel
Beatrice Gaddy, Patterson Park Emergency Food Center
Juliet V. Garcia, University of Texas at Brownsville
Beverly J. Harvard, Chief of Police, Atlanta, Georgia
Susan Stroud, Corporation for National and Community Service
Dolores Wharton, Fund for Corporate Initiatives, Inc.
Elvira Felton Williams, Adventures in Higher Education and
Agricultural Development, Inc.
V. Cheryl Womack, VCW, Inc.

1994
Mae Jemison, Astronaut, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Betty Jean Murphy, Savannah Development Corporation
Nancy H. Richardson, Girl Scouts of America
Patricia Rueckel, National Association for Women in Education
Haley Scott, University of Notre Dame
Leslie C. Shields, Author, Work Sister Work
Catherine Filene Shouse, Philanthropist

1993
Jill Alper, Women’s Information Network
Margaret Bridwell, University of Maryland Health Center
Diane Carlson Evans, Vietnam Women’s Memorial Project
Elaine Chao, United Way of America
Kimi Gray, Kenilworth-Parkside Resident Management Corporation
Barbara Hedges, University of Washington Department of Athletics
Ellen Malcolm, EMILY’s List
Karen Thompson, Author and Activist
Sarah Weddington, Attorney and Author

1992
Donna Brazile, Chief of Staff to U.S. Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton
Judy Canales, Mexican American Women’s National Association
Rayna Green, National Museum of American History
Susan Hester, Mautner Project for Lesbians With Cancer and National Coalition of Feminist and Lesbian Cancer Projects
Doris Leader Charge, Sinte Gleska College
Lorraine Mintzmeyer, National Park Service
Sima Wal, National Women’s Studies Association

1991
Eleanor Baum, Cooper Union Department of Engineering
Hazel Johnson-Brown, Army Nurse Corps
Setsuko Matsunaga Nishi, Reparation of Wartime Relocation and
Internment of Civilians
Ruth Otte, Discovery Channel
Bernice Johnson Reagon, National Museum of American History and
Founder, Sweet Honey in the Rock
Marilyn Russo, Psychotherapist and Advocate for Young Women
With Disabilities
Bernice Sandler, Project on the Status and Education of Women

1990
Lois J. Barber, 20/20 Vision
Sarah K. Brady, Handgun Control, Inc.
Eugenie Clark, University of Maryland, College Park
Barbara Hart, National Coalition Against Domestic Violence
Charlayne Hunter-Gault, MacNeil-Lehrer NewsHour
Ann Lewin, Capital Children’s Museum
Wilma P. Mankiller, Cherokee Nation
Bonnie Newman, White House Office of Management and Operations
Nancy K. Schlossberg, University of Maryland
Molly Yard, National Organization for Women

1989
Elaine Copeland, University of Illinois
Dorothy Gilliam, Columnist, Washington Post
Ruth Knee, Consultant
Carmen Neuberger, Dickinson College
Ann-Imelda Radice, National Museum of Women in the Arts
Donna Shavlik, American Council on Education

1988
Lindy Boggs, U.S. Representative
Marian Wright Edelman, Children’s Defense Fund
Dana Harris, Homelessness Information Exchange
Florence Howe, Feminist Press
Karen Keesling, U.S. Air Force
Jewel LaFontant, Vedder, Price, Kaufman & Kammholtz
Cokie Roberts, National Public Radio
Emily Taylor, American Council on Education

1987
Cathleen Black, USA Today
Julia Chang Bloch, Agency for International Development
Anna Fisher, Astronaut, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Wilhelmina Cole Holladay, National Museum of Women in the Arts
Elizabeth Duncan Koontz, U.S. Department of Labor
Candy Lightner, Mothers Against Drunk Driving
Wilma Rudolph, Olympic Medalist

1985
Jessie Bernard, Author, The Female World
Donna de Varona, ABC Sports and Olympic Medalist
Catherine East, U.S. Government Commissions and Councils on Women
Nancy Kassebaum, U.S. Senator
Shirley Malcolm, American Association for the Advancement of Science
Justine Merritt, Poet and Missionary
Loret Ruppe, Peace Corps
Helen Thomas, United Press International