Finance
VP Recognized for Volunteer Service
 When she is not managing
Smith College’s bottom line,
Ruth Constantine, vice president of finance and administration,
can often be found volunteering her time in a variety of
ways.
Most prominently, she
has served for eight years on the Cooley Dickinson Hospital
Board of Trustees. She has held the titles of chair, vice
chair and assistant treasurer for the board, and has served
on the hospital’s Investment
Committee, Executive Committee and Resource Committee.
For her input to the success of the hospital, Constantine
was presented with the William E. Dwyer Distinguished Service
Award on October 11, during the 121st annual meeting of the
Board of Trustees at the Hotel Northampton. The award recognizes
outstanding individuals whose volunteer service on behalf
of the hospital exemplifies the qualities and character of
William E. Dwyer.
Constantine was joined
by Jean O’Dea, a registered
nurse at the hospital, in receiving the award.
The late William E. Dwyer was a longtime hospital trustee,
local lawyer and civic leader. He died in 1994.
During her tenure on the hospital Board of Trustees, Constantine
helped see the facility through two major building projects:
an expansion of the outpatient services and the Childbirth
Center, and the addition of the North Building/Kittredge
Surgery Center.
Constantine also volunteers locally for The Community Foundation
as chair of its Investment Committee and member of the Board
of Trustees. And, she is a board member of the Florence Savings
Bank. She has served in the past on several other boards
in Northampton, including the YMCA, the Greater Chamber of
Commerce, and the Hampshire/Franklin Regional Employment
Board.
Outside of the Pioneer
Valley, Constantine also serves as vice president of the
eastern region of her professional organization, the Association
of College and University Business Officers, and will advance
to president of the region next year, when she will also
join the organization’s national
board.
Even before her extensive
involvement in the Northampton community, Constantine’s community service extends
back to her days after college graduation, when she became
a volunteer adviser and helped open food co-ops around the
Seattle area. When she moved to Ithaca, N.Y., she again became
involved in the local community, working to advance women’s
reproductive and other rights. She served there on the boards
of Planned Parenthood and the Task Force for Battered Women.
Her record of volunteer
activity has been extremely fulfilling for Constantine
through the years, she says. “You’re
never too busy to volunteer and make a difference,” she
adds.
Amid all her volunteer activities,
the role that gives her great satisfaction is that of grandmother
to 1-year-old Aderet, whom she describes as one of the current
joys of her life.
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