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A medievalist, a neurologist, a mayor and a public intellectual will exemplify the range of careers and the scope of achievement within the college's alumnae community when four Smith women receive Smith College Medals at Rally Day ceremonies on February 18. The medals-given annually to alumnae whose lives convey the true purpose of a liberal arts education in service to their community or the college-will be presented to Charity Cannon Willard A.M. '36, Margaret Lang Bauman '60, Pamela Gundersen Miller '60 and Wendy Kaminer '71. Since receiving her doctorate in 1940, at a time when women were not encouraged to pursue advanced degrees, Willard has devoted nearly six decades to developing an international reputation as a prolific and devoted scholar and the foremost authority on Europe's first woman of letters, the medieval French writer Christine de Pizan. In recognition of her distinguished career in the service of French language, literature and culture, the government of France awarded Willard the Ordre des Palmes Academiques in 1984. Willard, who has been called by one of her protégés "a model of courage, taste and devotion as well as of scholarship, generosity and intelligence," is recognized also for her unstinting intellectual nurturing of younger colleagues. Bauman, an associate professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School and a pediatric neurologist at the Massachusetts General Hospital, is internationally recognized for her clinical expertise in pediatric neurology, particularly that involving autistic children or those with Rett's syndrome, a progressive neurologic disorder that only affects girls. Her seminal research has demonstrated that infantile autism is not a psychological disorder but is related to developmental abnormalities, apparently prenatal in origin, in selected regions of the brain. As a faculty member at Harvard Medical School, Bauman has served as a role model and mentor for many women physicians and researchers. She also is committed to working with and educating parents of physically and mentally handicapped children and to advocating appropriate service on their behalf. Since moving to Lexington, Kentucky, in 1970, Miller has worked tirelessly, creatively and successfully, both as a volunteer and as a public servant, to bring lasting civic improvements to her adopted community. Elected mayor of Lexington in 1993, her leadership, both before and since she assumed office, has led to the addition of major arts and cultural programming and facilities (including theaters, museums and galleries), the continuing renaissance of a downtown commercial district, improvements in quality of life and basic government service programs for inner city youth and protection for the area's widely renowned environmental beauty. Admirers credit Miller with resolve, vision and the ability to build effective coalitions. A writer and self-described public intellectual, Kaminer is a true pioneer of feminist thought. She has been called "one of the most brilliant essayists ... writing in America today." Her books, including the popular I'm Dysfunctional, You're Dysfunctional and A Fearful Freedom, have been hailed as landmarks in contemporary social commentary. Her articles have been published in the Atlantic Monthly, The New Republic and The New York Times, where they have prompted thoughtful, spirited discussion on everything from the death penalty to First Amendment rights in relation to pornography. A fellow at Radcliffe College since 1987, Kaminer is also currently president of the National Coalition Against Censorship, a contributing editor at the Atlantic Monthly and a commentator on National Public Radio's "Morning Edition." Although best known for her forceful arguments on a wide range of intellectual issues, she is also noted for her wit, irreverence and staunch devotion to her personal values. |
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