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Senator Wynona Lipman Chair in Women’s Political Leadership 2008 Program
This event is full. The Senator Wynona Lipman Chair in Women’s Political Leadership The Chair is intended to celebrate Senator Lipman, remind people of her achievements, and encourage others to follow in the footsteps of this path-breaking African American woman leader. An advisory committee, including members of Senator Lipman's family, members of the New Jersey legislature, and former members of the Senator's staff, has worked with CAWP to make the chair a success. CAWP is grateful to the Governor, the legislature, and advisory committee members for their commitment to honoring Senator Lipman's memory and advancing women's leadership. More information about Senator Lipman here. Holders of the Lipman Chair
Chairholder Biographies From 1964-68, Chisholm represented a Brooklyn district in the New York State Assembly. She rose to power after challenging the local political machine, earning early in her career the reputation of a maverick and a fighter who was, as she later titled her autobiography, Unbought and Unbossed. In the legislature she served on the education committee and pushed for the rights of the previously underrepresented, championing causes such as unemployment insurance for domestic workers, state aid to day care centers, and the rights of teachers returning to work from maternity leave. In 1968, Shirley Chisholm became the first Black woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. She demonstrated her mettle immediately by protesting her assignment to the Agriculture Committee, whose work had little to do with her Brooklyn district; she was reassigned to the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, still not her top choice but much more relevant to her constituents’ interests. In later years, she won seats on the Education and Labor Committee and the Rules Committee, where she was better able to voice the concerns of her district. Her legislative interests focused on the needs of her community, including education, welfare, housing and employment. Known for her anti-war sentiments, she pushed for all-volunteer armed forces. Chisholm made history in 1972 when she sought the Democratic nomination for the presidency. She campaigned across the country, ultimately winning 152 delegate votes with her uncompromising anti-war, progressive politics. Her book, The Good Fight, chronicles her campaign. Congresswoman Chisholm retired in 1982 after seven terms in Congress and became a lecturer and teacher. Shortly after leaving Washington, she established the National Political Congress of Black Women to further the cause of political participation among Black women. She lived in Florida until her death in early 2005. Congresswoman
Chisholm’s papers
are archived at the Rutgers University Library. Secretary Herman took the President's charge to heart. Less than three months after being confirmed by the United States Senate, she surmounted her first major challenge as Secretary of Labor by successfully facilitating negotiations between UPS management and Teamsters union leaders. Those talks ended a ten-day strike that threatened to disrupt the American economy. As Labor Secretary, Herman served as CEO of an organization with a $39 billion annual budget and a workforce of 17,000 across the country. Under her leadership-and for the first time ever-the department received a clean audit opinion on its FY 97, 98 and 99 financial statements. A recipient of more than a dozen honorary degrees from major colleges and universities around the country, Herman also lends her expertise and talent to a vast array of corporate enterprises and nonprofit organizations. She has served on the boards of directors of Cummins Inc. and Presidential Life Corporation, and as the Chairperson of the Coca-Cola Company’s Employment Diversity Taskforce. Alexis Herman's achievements in business and as Secretary of Labor
are only the latest steps in a lifetime of service to America's working
families. Born in Mobile, Alabama and a graduate of Xavier University,
she began her career working for Catholic Charities helping young
out-of-school men and women find work in the Pascagoula, Mississippi
shipyard. At the age of twenty-nine, she joined the Carter Administration
as the youngest director of the Women's Bureau in the history of
the Labor Department. In the 1980s, she became a successful entrepreneur
and labor
market expert. In 1993, President Clinton appointed her assistant
to the President and director of the White House Public Liaison Office.
Four years later, President Clinton again selected Alexis Herman
to serve as a valued member of the National Economic Council as the
nation’s Secretary of Labor. As a parallel career, Professor Williams has pursued journalism. Her column, "Diary of a Mad Law Professor," appears bimonthly in The Nation Magazine. She has authored more than a hundred articles for scholarly journals, popular magazines and newspapers including The New York Times, The New York Times Book Review, USA Today, Harvard Law Review, Tikkun, Ms. Magazine, Civilization Magazine, Harpers Bazaar, The New Yorker, The Boston Globe, The VillageVoice, The London Observer, and The Women’s Review of Books. She is the recipient of honorary doctorates from Northeastern University and John Jay College of the City University of New York. She has received awards from the National Organization for Women, the American Educational Studies Association and from her alma maters--an Outstanding Alumna Award from Latin School in Boston, an Alumni Achievement Award from Wellesley College, and a Graduate Society Medal from Harvard. Her
book, The Alchemy of Race and Rights was named one of the twenty-five
best books of 1991 by the Voice Literary Supplement; one of the "feminist
classics of the last twenty years" that "literally changed
women's lives" by Ms. Magazine; and one of the ten best non-fiction
books of the decade by amazon.com. Other books include The Rooster's
Egg (Harvard Press, 1995) and Seeing a Color-Blind Future: The Paradox
of Race (Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, 1998). She has held fellowships at the School of Criticism and Theory at
Dartmouth College, the Humanities Research Institute of the University
of California at Irvine, the Institute for Arts and Civic Dialogue
at Harvard, and the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences
at Stanford University. She is a member of PEN, the international
writer's association, a fellow of the New York Institute for the
Humanities and was named a MacArthur fellow. The
hallmark of her public service has been dedication to the harmony
of the community. An advocate of diversity, she has consistently
worked to build an inclusive society. Her extensive and constructive
legislative record reflects this commitment to social justice
and good government. Since her return in 2001 from her ambassadorial
posting, she has taught law and political science at Morris Brown
College and DePaul University while maintaining a business law
practice and business consultancy in Chicago. Brazile
authored Cooking with Grease: Stirring the Pots in American
Politics (2004, Simon & Schulster). She has been a frequent contributor
and political commentator on CNN’s Inside Politics and Crossfire,
a columnist for Roll Call, and a contributing writer for Ms. Magazine.
In addition to working on political campaigns, Brazile has served
as a senior lecturer and adjunct professor at the University of
Maryland and a fellow at Harvard's Institute of Politics. She is
the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including Washingtonian
Magazine's 100 Most Powerful Women in Washington, D.C. and the
Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's Award for Political Achievement.
A native of New Orleans, Brazile earned her undergraduate degree
from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.
A third generation Washingtonian, the Congresswoman continues her lifelong struggle for universal human rights, working for full congressional voting representation and for full democracy for the people of the District of Columbia. She has used her background in national affairs and in law to become a leader in the House in important posts. She has served in the Democratic House leadership group and as the Democratic chair of the Women’s Caucus, and she has been a member of the Committee on the Reorganization of the Congress, appointed by the Speaker when the Democrats controlled the House. Her success in writing bills and getting them enacted has made her one of the most effective legislative leaders in the House. She has the full vote in House committees and serves on the Committee on Homeland Security, the Government Reform Committee and the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Her numerous accomplishments for her district also include other historic breakthroughs, among them the achievement of the right to vote on the House floor until the rules were changed in 1995; a two day debate and the first vote on D.C. statehood; and senatorial courtesy in the selection of federal judges, achieved for the first time during the Clinton administration. Congresswoman Norton, who taught full-time before being elected, continues as a tenured professor of law at Georgetown University, teaching a course there every year. After receiving her bachelor’s degree from Antioch College in Ohio, she simultaneously earned her law degree as well as a master’s degree in American Studies from Yale. Yale Law School has awarded her the Citation of Merit as an Outstanding Alumna of Yale Law School, and Yale Graduate School has awarded her the Yale Wilbur Cross Medal as an Outstanding Alumna of the Graduate School, the highest awards conferred by each on alumnae. She is the recipient of more than 50 honorary degrees. Congresswoman Norton has served on the board of the Rockefeller Foundation and the Board of Governors of the D.C. Bar Association, as well as the boards of civil rights and other national organizations.
As managing editor of Washington Week, Ifill selects which stories to examine, chooses each week’s panel of news correspondents, and moderates the Q&A format. On The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Ifill is a familiar presence as both a correspondent and a moderator. She is also frequently asked to moderate debates in national elections, most recently the vice presidential debate during the 2004 election. Prior to joining PBS, she served at NBC News for five years as chief congressional and political correspondent. She also worked for many years as a print journalist reporting for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Baltimore Evening Sun, and The Boston Herald American. Read Gwen Ifill's New York Times op-ed
about the Rutgers women's basketball team -
available here.
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