Past Women of Distinction
The Center for Women and Families has recognized outstanding women in the community through the Women of Distinction Award since 1988 at our annual Celebration of Service and Survival gala. An individual honored as a Woman of Distinction has given a lifetime of professional and/or volunteer services that has left an indelible mark on the Kentuckiana community.
Women of Distinction have made significant contributions to education, health care, civil rights, the arts, human services, the welfare of children and the advancement of women. Nearly 200 women to date have received this honor:
2023
Judge Vicki Carmichael
Gretchen Hunt
Mattie Jones
Dani Kannapell
Hon. Tina Ward-Pugh
2022
Karina Barillas
Betty Winston Bayé
Yvette Gentry
Hon. Judge Tara Hagerty
Diane Porter
2020
Angie M. Evans
Maria Hampton
Marta Miranda-Straub
Darlene Thomas
Marita Willis
2019
Cecile Anne Blau
Sharon Darling
Julie LaValle Jones
Sadiqa Reynolds
Paula Sherlock
2018
Cathe Dykstra
Sally Wilson Erny
Sophie Maier
Barbara Sexton Smith
Kathryn Kennedy Wallace
2017
Joanne Berryman
Pam Greenwell
Carol Heideman
Alice Houston
Surekha Kulkarni
2016
Sharon Currens
Laura Douglas
Joni Jenkins
Eileen Recktenwald
Sheila Schuster
2015
Pat Byron
Dawne Gee
Carol Jordan
Dorothy Ridings
Audrey Tayse Haynes
2014
Ann L. Coffey
Phyllis E. Florman
Jennifer R. Jewell
Judy Lambeth
Kathryn M. Mershon
2013
Madeline Abramson
Dr. Renee Campbell
Susan Ely
Tori Murden McClure
Mary Gwen Wheeler
2012
Jane Beshear
Carolle Jones Clay
Connie Fox
Diane Graeter
Kim Greene
Lindy B. Street
2011
Jane Godchaux Emke
Eleanor Jordan
Alice Miles
Andree Mondor
Shelley Santry
2010
M. Gabriela Alcalde
Bonnie M. Brown
Kathy Paulin
Judi C. Patton
Amy Weston Roth
2009
Alice Brooks
Crit Luallen
Marcia Roth
Kathy Smith-Andrew
Joanne McCarten Weis
2008
Carol Butler
Julie Hermann
Denise Spratt
Dr. Lillian Yeager*
Cathy Zion
2007
Martha Layne Collins
Cheryl Hillenburg
Pam Johnson
Jessica Loving
Charlotte Tharp*
Marsha Weinstein
2006
Juanita Beach
Reba Doutrick
Jean Frazier
Adele Leight
Alice Lucille Martin
2005
Nana Yaa Asantewaa
Marie Clay
Mary Stone
Maura Temes
Letitia “Letty” Walter
2004
Elmer Lucille Allen
Virginia Gray Henry-Blakemore
June Parrish-Hicks*
Mary Ann Sodrel
Shelly Zegart
2003
Marie K. Abrams
Mary Moss Greenebaum
Allie Corbin Hixson*
Kathryn M. Raines*
Ceciliana Skees, S.L.
Margaret Yeager Williams*
2002
Hazel Bales*
Nina Bonnie
Johnnie Jones
Joyce Seymour
Roanne Victor*
2001
Sister Guadalupe Arciniega
Mary ‘Polly’ Hise Brown*
Ella Roberts*
Marie Robertson*
Katherine Jones Smith*
2000
Eleanor L. Foreman
Molly Leonard*
Tommie Cadden O’Callaghan*
Suzy Post*
Terry Sales*
1999
Dora B. Bush*
Jane C. Duerr*
Marlene M. Grissom
Lillian C. Milanof*
Lizzie G. Miller
1998
Ruth K. Bledsoe
Dolores S. Delahanty
Leah J. Dickstein, M.D.
Marilyn A. McLaughlin
Bette Payne*
1997
Juanita Burks*
Claudia Crump, Ph.D.
Fanny Rose Rosenbaum*
Cornelia Atherton Serpell*
Sue Speed*
1996
Thelma Bertrand*
Anne Braden*
Helen Lew Lang*
Johnetta Marshall
Naomi Pressma
Mary K. Bonsteel Tachau*
1995
Lilialyce Akers, Ph.D*
Clementine B.“Tiny” Barthold
Renee Butterworth
Daisy P. Hitchcock
Virginia T. Keeney, M.D.*
Carolyn Neustadt
1994
Eileen M. Egan, SCN, J.D.,Ph.D.*
Eleanor J. Hutchinson*
Katherine G. Peden*
Inez Segell*
Mary Norton Shands*
Marjorie Smith*
1993
Polly Zimmer Cochran*
Ming Dick*
Dr. Lucy M. Freibert, SCN*
Helen Helman*
Harriett Porter*
1992
Jane Barth Anderson*
Jeanne B. Frank*
Bettie L. Johnson*
Mary J. Mullins*
Sister Angelice Seibert*
1991
Betty Arrasmith*
Phyllis Knight Gifford*
Mae Street Kidd*
Margaret Read
Mary Rudd*
1990
Dr. Dudley Ashton*
Betty S. Fleischaker
Maud Fliegelman
Barbara S. Miller*
Lois Walker Morris*
Frances M. Parrish*
Rose L. Rubel*
Evelyn L. Waldrop*
1989
Alberta Wood Allen*
Minx M. Auerbach*
Gerta Bendl*
Gladys W. Carter*
Virginia Mason*
Elaine Gifford Musselman*
Georgia M. Powers*
Dr. Joan E. Thomas*
1988
Helen Abell*
Mary Bingham*
Sara “Sally” Shallenberger Brown*
Mary Helen Byck*
Amelia Brown Frazier*
Doni Greenebaum*
Jane L. Greenebaum*
Jane Morton Norton*
Murray A. Walls*
Hortense H. Young*
*Denotes deceased
