Newcomb Alumnae Association bestows three awards to Newcomb alumnae each year at Under the Oaks. Award winners have represented Newcomb with distinction since their graduation.
The Newcomb Alumnae Association Awards are presented annually at the Under the Oaks celebration in May:
Nominations are good for three years. The nomination period for 2022 is now closed.
Congratulations to our 2021 Alumnae Award Winners!
We are pleased to announce the recipients of the 2021 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.
This year’s recipients are:
Outstanding Alumna:
Dr. Mara E. Karlin (NC '01)
Dr. Mara Karlin is Performing the Duties of Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. Dr. Karlin was sworn in as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategies, Plans, and Capabilities on August 17, 2021.
Before taking on this role, Dr. Karlin served as the Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs. She served on the policy team for the Biden-Harris Transition. Karlin was Director of Strategic Studies, an Associate Professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), and a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. Previously, she served in national security roles for five U.S. secretaries of defense, advising on policies spanning strategic planning, defense policy and budgeting, future conflicts, and regional security affairs. She started her government career as a civil servant in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and has received the Secretary of Defense Meritorious Civilian Service Award. She is the author of two books on defense policy and military history.
Community Service Award:
Isabel González Whitaker (NC '94)
Isabel González Whitaker is a Senior Advisor for the world’s largest healthcare charity, where she leads C-suite thought leadership and executive visibility efforts primarily at the intersection of Purpose. In 2018, Isabel was selected to be a Presidential Leadership Scholar as determined by the Pres. Clinton, H. W. Bush, W. Bush, and Johnson Presidential Centers. As a Scholar, she debuted the first park in the State of Georgia to be named for a Latinx individual, the Sara J. González Memorial Park, which President Clinton wrote: “will have a lasting positive impact on the community [and] inspire all those who visit it in the years to come.” The Atlanta-based park is dedicated to themes of diversity, inclusion, unity, and equity and demonstrates these values through pan-generational, community-centric programming and design. Isabel received the 2018 Cox Corporation and Trust for Public Land Heroes Award and the 2018 Park Pride Inspiration Award for her efforts with the park.
Young Alumna Award:
Mwende "FreeQuency" Katwiwa (NC '14)
Mwende “FreeQuency” Katwiwa centers youth work, community organizing, and cultural creativity in their life. They believe that ‘words create worlds’ and center storytelling in all aspects of their work & life, from performance to community organizing to daily practices & rituals. FreeQuency has performed and/or spoken at over 100 colleges, and universities across the country focused on gender and antiracism. Frequency is also the CoDirector of LOUD: The New Orleans Queer Youth Theatre.
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)
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)
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)
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