Newcomb Alumnae Association bestows four awards to Newcomb alumnae each year at Homecoming. Award winners have represented Newcomb with distinction since their graduation.
Nominate an Alumna for a Newcomb Award
The Newcomb Alumnae Association Awards are presented annually at the NAA Annual Meeting and Homecoming celebration in the Fall:
- Outstanding Alumna - The recipient of this award must reflect Newcomb’s tradition of excellence and should exhibit prominence in a business or professional field and in her contributions to the well being of national, state, or community life. The recipient’s accomplishments and contributions should have been sustained over a long period of time. Optimally, the recipient should have achieved some measure of recognition on the national or international level.
- Young Alumna - This award is given to a Newcomb/Tulane alum who has exhibited ongoing contributions or achievements. Nominees who have not yet attained the age of 40 are eligible for fifteen years beyond graduation.
- Community Service - The recipient of this award will be recognized for a significant, long-term commitment to community service.
- The Live Oak Award - This award honors an alum whose teaching, advocacy, or organizing efforts have increased educational opportunities within their community, their region, the nation, or internationally. The Live Oak Award recipient’s work should enhance equity and equality, have been recognized and respected by others, and inspire future generations from all backgrounds and abilities.
Nominations are good for three years. The nomination period for 2024 is now open until May 31.
We are pleased to announce the recipients of the 2024 Newcomb Alumnae Association Awards. These alumnae have represented Newcomb with distinction since their graduation, and all alumnae are invited to celebrate their achievements at the Under the Oaks Ceremony. See the date, time, and location details located under the Events Tab.
Last year’s recipients are:
Outstanding Alumna:
Flora Fenner McConnell Hammond, MD, NC '86, M*90
Dr. Flora Hammond has provided extensive advocacy, service, and leadership in improving the lives of people affected by disability with tireless passion, compassion, creativity, and collegiality. Dr. Hammond's service is firmly grounded in the example set by her parents, C. Fenner McConnell, MD (Tulane '55, Tulane Medicine '59) and Shirley McConnell, who taught her that in work, life, and play, we should care for others and always do our best. Her commitment to the community started to take root during her time at Newcomb College and Tulane University School of Medicine.
Dr. Hammond's years of research and leadership have profoundly impacted rehabilitation science and practice. Her research has expanded our knowledge about how people change over the years after brain injury, dispelling the myth that one's function remains the same over time after brain injury. Dr. Hammond is leading an initiative to change the view of brain injury as an incident with limited short-term treatment to a chronic condition that must be proactively managed throughout one's life. She and her colleagues have developed a new model of care for chronic brain injury, including improving the accuracy and quality of patient-family discussions after head trauma. She has also led presentations highlighting the irreversible consequences of inaccurate outcome predictions.
Dr. Hammond is currently Professor and Chair of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) at Indiana University School of Medicine and Chief of Medical Affairs at the Rehabilitation Hospital of Indiana.
Community Service Award:
Hon. Robin M. Giarrusso NC ’74, L *77
Robin M. Giarrusso served as a judge of the Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans from 1988 to 2023, and she served as the Court's Chief Judge from 1998 to 2000. Judge Giarrusso was appointed by the Louisiana Supreme Court to the State's Judiciary Commission and served as Chair of the Commission during the last year of her appointment.
Judge Giarrusso is incredibly active in the community. She is a vice-president of the National Council of Jewish Women, a board member of the Jewish Endowment Foundation, a member of the Downtown Rotary Club, a past president of Congregation Temple Sinai, the previous membership vice-president of the New Orleans Bar Association Inn of Court, a board member of the Tulane Alumni Association, and a former assistant bar examiner. She has also served on the board of the Anti-Defamation League, Jewish Children's Regional Service, the Pro-Bono Project, as Vice-President of the Newcomb College Alumnae Board, and as the class agent for the Newcomb College Class of 1974. She was a frequent lecturer at continuing legal education seminars on topics such as ethics, professionalism, civil procedure, and women in the judiciary. Judge Giarrusso received the First Annual Michaelle Pitard Wynne Professionalism Award from the Association for Women Attorneys and the National Urban League Award for Distinguished Public Service. Judge Giarrusso received the Pro Bono Project Distinguished Jurist Award in 2015 and the Arceneaux Professionalism Award from the New Orleans Bar Association in 2023.
Judge Giarrusso has lectured on advocacy for people with physical disabilities. She is a former board member of Resources for Independent Living, Easter Seals, and the Education and Support Program for Children's Hospital. In 2023, Giarrusso received the South-Central region of the Anti-Defamation League's A.I. Botnick Torch of Liberty Award alongside Mike Fitts.
Judge Giarrusso is a graduate of Newcomb College and Tulane University Law School. Before her election, she served on the City Attorney's Office staff, where she specialized in contract and public bid matters. She is the proud mother of her son and the proud grandmother of her two granddaughters.
Young Alumna Award:
Rachael Richard SLA '19
Rachael Richard got her BA from Tulane before returning to her home state of New Jersey to teach high school history. She later went to Columbia University for her master's because of her commitment to representing the histories and cultures of underrepresented communities in the social studies classroom. Through project-based learning and engagement with graphic novels as alternative texts, Rachael's non-traditional approach to the classroom encourages the empowerment of student choice and civic engagement.
Rachael's most recent endeavor has involved developing an Indigenous History of North America elective at Bayonne High School. The elective was developed through representative scholarship and a partnership with the Lakota Nation on the Pine Ridge Reservation. In the fall of 2023, her scholars held discussions with reservation representatives over Zoom to determine the community's needs. Then, they held a toiletries drive collecting and shipping out more than 300+ high-need toiletries items for the reservation. In the spring of 2024, Rachael helped her students organize a Krispy Kreme Fundraiser to support updating the heating units on the reservation, raising over $800. In 2024, Rachael was awarded the Cohen-Jordan Award for Outstanding Social Studies Teaching by the Middle States Council for Social Studies and is an active presenter on topics like graphic novels and challenging the deficit mindset in Indigenous history for the NJ Council for Social Studies annual conference.
Outside of the classroom, Rachael works as a field instructor for the urban wilderness company Team Wilderness, which empowers Hudson County youth through outdoor experiences. Rachael has helped bring her love of hiking and nature into the classroom, taking her scholars on hikes to learn about George Washington's winter encampments, Lenni-Lenape migration, and land stewardship. For the 2024-2025 school year, Rachael is also a Teach Asian American Stories Fellow, and she will continue to develop curriculum and professional workshops to aid NJ teachers.
Live Oak Award:
Mildred "Millibeth" Currie NC '89
Millibeth Currie is a passionate and dedicated educator who has made significant contributions to the field of STEM education through extensive collaboration with various stakeholders. Recognizing the importance of making learning relevant and engaging for students, she has developed and fostered numerous partnerships with industry professionals, academic institutions, and community organizations to enhance STEM teaching and learning.
One of Millibeth's notable collaborations involved bringing a speaker to her classroom to discuss fragile X syndrome, a genetic disorder, which helped her students understand the real-world implications of genetics. Her work with the MIT Women's Initiative Program brought female engineering students to Charleston County School District schools to conduct hands-on STEM challenges, inspiring young students to pursue STEM careers. Millibeth has also partnered with the CCSD Career and Technology Education (CTE) program and Work-based Learning Partnerships Coordinator Chad Vail to expand STEM opportunities. Through these collaborations, she has created programs like Women in Charge (WIC), which has formed outreach initiatives with local and national STEM leaders, including NASA engineer Tia Ferguson (E’89) and landscape architects, providing students with practical, real-world STEM experiences. She finds ways to remove the fear and mystery from STEM fields so students are more likely to pursue them.
Her partnerships extend to higher education as well, with partnerships with professors from Florida State University and the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) to conduct research and present STEM modules to her students. Millibeth's students have also benefited from collaborations with companies and labs like the Charleston Digital Corridor and Michelin. Her dedication to STEM education is further exemplified by her work with the National Labs in New Mexico, which led to the integration of cybersecurity into her STEM curriculum, and her coordination of the Greenwood Genetics Lab mobile visits to her school. She has provided her students invaluable opportunities to engage with STEM professionals and explore potential career paths through these initiatives.
Millibeth's efforts earned her the Digital Innovation and Learning Award "Community Counts" from Ed Surge and Digital Promise. This award celebrates her dedication to involving the entire community, including students, parents, and local stakeholders, in the educational process. Most recently, she was named the 2024 South Carolina STEM Educator of the Year.
Outstanding Alumna
1974 Elizabeth Wisner N'14
1975 Bessie Margolin N'29
1976 Corinne Claiborne Boggs N'35
1977 E. Lucille Smith N'35
1978 Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer N'33
1979 Ruth Rogan Benerito N'35
1980 Betty Werlein Carter N'31
1981 Lanier Allingham Simmons N'50
1982 Mary Lou Mossy Christovich N'49
1983 Odaline de la Martinez N'72
1984 Evalyn Stolaroff Gendel N'43
1985 Betty Stevens Sherrill N'44
1986 Hilda Arndt N'32
1987 Lynda Benglis N'64
1988 Rosa Freeman Keller N'32
1989 Martha Crenshaw N'67
1990 Marion J. Siegman N'54
1991 Barbara Y. E. Pyle N'69
1992 Deirdre Melessa Phillips, M.D. N'69
1993 Vivian Gussin Paley N'50
1994 Lois E. DeBakey N'40
1995 Eugénie Ricau Rocherolle N'58
1997 Susan Gold Willard Schorin N'67
1998 May Hyman Lesser N'47
1999 Martha Walters Barnett N'69
2003 Marsha Sidel Firestone N'65
2004 Cheryl A. Nickerson N'83
2005 Elizabeth A. Weaver N’62
2007 Jane Davis Doggett N'52
2008 Carol Lavin Bernick N'74
2009 Florence Weiland Schornstein N’56
2010 Berthe Lathrop Marks Amoss N’46
2011 Dee Unglaub Silverthon N '70
2012 Marlene Esking Moses N '72
2013 Margaret Burr Leonard N '63
2014 Merri Steinberg Ex N '73
2015 Regina Rogers N '68
2016 Jennifer Brush N '78
2017 Sally Kittredge Reeves N'65
2018 Meria Carstarphen NC '92
2019 Marcela Villareal de Panetta NC ’67
2020 Carter Flemming NC ’70
2021 Dr. Mara E. Karlin NC ’01
2022 Pamela A. Geller, Ph.D. NC ’88
2023 Alexandra “Ally” Coll, J.D. (NC ’07)
Young Alumna
2005 Jennifer Grotz N’93
2007 Melissa Ekin Kizildemir N’02
2008 Erica Trani N’06
2009 Rebekah Dobrasko N’01
2010 Theresa Schieber N’95
2011 Meaghan K. Callahan N'08
2012 Karoun Bagamain N'01
2013 Elizabeth Bellino N'98
2014 Johanna Gilligan N'03
2015 Jane Kellum N'01
2016 Dr. Mara E. Karlin N'01
2017 Demetria Christo N'06
2018 Lindsey Childs-Kean NC '04
2019 Paula Eichenbrenner NC ’04
2020 Nicole Hutchinson SLA '07
2021 Mwende "FreeQuency" Katwiwa NC '14
2022 Saira A. Mehmood, Ph.D. SLA ’08, SLA '09
2023 Brittney Sheena (SSE ’18)
Newcomb Community Service and Loyalty Award
1987 Sybil Muths Favrot N’56
1988 Jane Kelleher Riess N’38
1989 Nellie Mae " Bartlett Kelleher N’30
1990 Carol Downes Cudd N’59
1992 Louise Hoehn Hogan N’35
1993 Winifred Delery Hills N’75
1994 Polly Phelps Durham N’52
1995 Harriet Barry Schupp N’59
1997 Regan Alford Forrester N'71
1999 Carolyn Robbert Davis N'42
2000 Andrée Keil Moss N'59
2001 Helen Schneidau N'67
2002 Patricia Greene N'67
2003 Karen Deener Depp N'66
2004 Virginia Niehaus Roddy N'60
2005 Barbara Bartlett Haddad N'53
2007 Cynthia Roosth Wolf N'68
2008 Eugenie Jones Huger N'53
2009 Adelaide Wisdom Benjamin N’54
Community Service Award
2010 Adele Redditt Williamson N’45
2011 Sharon Kozlowski Bourgeois N'69
2012 Suzy Guichard McDaniel N'83
2013 Newcomb Sisters & Friends Build
2014 Sylvia Klumok Goodman N'62
2015 Julie Schwam Harris N'74
2016 Roberta Guillory N'59
2017 Rhonda Kalifey-Aluise N'92
2018 Millibeth Currie NC '89
2019 Lisa Helfman NC ’96
2020 Nancy Godecke NC '81
2021 Isabel González Whitaker NC '94
2022 Amy Gatzemeyer NC ’06
2023 Susan Friedlander Keith (NC ’68)
Katrina/Rita Recognition Awards - October 27, 2006
Pamela Montgomery Bryan N'80
Barbara Gott Bush N'71
Beverly Reese Church N'67
Lea McIntosh Ellison N'69
Mignon Faget N'55
Virginia Saussy N'88
Ruthie Jones Frierson N'62
Patricia Heatherly Gay N'65
Barbara Barry Hammett N'64
Leslie Brupbacher Kramer N'77
Nancy Meyers Marsiglia N'75
Anne McDonald Milling N'62
Marcelle D'Aquin Saussy N'61
Louise Fergusson Saenz N'94
Cynthia Roosth Wolf N'68
Newcomb Centennial Awards - Awarded October 11, 1986
Mildred D. Christian N'22, Education/ English
Lucile Jacoby Blum N'24, Music, Performing, & Visual Art
Perrine Dixon McCune N'24, Music
Angela Gregory N'25, Sculpture
Rena Wilson N'29, Early Childhood Development
Mary Ethel Dichmann N'35, Education
Margaret Pace Willson N'43, Art/ Glass Blowing/ Business
Mary Hanemann Lystad N'49, Social Psychology
Shirley Ann Grau N'50, Author
Mignon Faget N'55, Art/ Jewelry Design
Linda Smith Wilson N'57, Chemistry/EducationalAdministration/Research
Frances F. Switt N'59, Foreign Service/ Cultural Exchange
Emily Watts Card N'63, Financial Management
Shelly Johnson Errington N’66, Anthropology
Marilyn Thomas Bernard N'68, Music
Janina R. Gerth Galler N'69, Pediatric Mental Health
Alumna of the Year (discontinued)
2005 Helen Carney Evans N’65
2007 Ruthie Jones Frierson N’62
2007 Anne McDonald Milling N’62
