Governor Rendell, First Lady Recognize Eight Distinguished Daughters of Pennsylvania

Governor Rendell, First Lady Recognize Eight Distinguished Daughters of
Pennsylvania

HARRISBURG, Pa., Oct. 21 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Governor Edward G. Rendell
and First Lady Judge Marjorie O. Rendell today recognized the accomplishments
of eight Distinguished Daughters of Pennsylvania and praised their
contributions to a variety of fields.

"This year's Distinguished Daughters of Pennsylvania have done extraordinary
work in many different capacities," said Governor Rendell. "Their
contributions to Pennsylvania and the nation have benefited everything from
academics to athletics, the arts to the military, as well as businesses and
communities. I am grateful for the work that these women have done on our
behalf to strengthen our state and the quality of life for so many residents."

"It is a privilege to honor the dedication and commitment of these
extraordinary women of Pennsylvania," said Judge Rendell. "Their legacy of
leadership is making a difference across the state."

The following were honored as Distinguished Daughters: Juliet J. Goodfriend,
Penn Valley; Judith R. Shapiro, Rosemont; Judith Joy Ross, Bethlehem; Eva
Tansky Blum, Toi Derricotte and Jacqueline C. Morby, all of Pittsburgh; C.
Vivian Stringer, Princeton, NJ; and Veronica Zasadni Froman, San Diego, CA.

To be selected as a Distinguished Daughter, women must be nominated by
organizations within the state for accomplishments of statewide or national
importance. Medals and citations are presented to honorees at the Governor's
Residence in Harrisburg.

The Distinguished Daughters of Pennsylvania awards began in 1949 as a way to
recognize influential women for their leadership, distinguished service, and
contributions to the state through their professional and/or volunteer
service. To date, 450 women have received the award and recognition.

Media contacts:
Anne C. Bale, Commission for Women; 717-787-8128
Mia DeVane, Governor's Office; 717-783-1116

Editor's Note: The following is a detailed list of this year's Distinguished
Daughters of Pennsylvania.

-- Judith Joy Ross, of Hazelton, PA, is an internationally exhibited
photographer known for her penetrating portraits of persons from all
walks of life. Her most famous work to date is a collection of
portraits, called "Portraits of the Hazleton Public Schools." The
volume
focuses on one of Ross's most personal series -- 67 portraits of
students at public schools from her hometown of Hazleton. Between 1992
and 1994, Ross returned to the schools of her youth as a way of
revisiting the experience of growing up. Shot with an 8 x 10-inch view
camera, the photographs in Portraits are unpretentious and revealing
in
their psychological insight. They reveal the universally wonderful and
terrifying rite of passage of going to school.
-- Judith Shapiro, of Rosemont, PA and New York City, is a distinguished
scholar and academician. Shapiro is a cultural anthropologist who
served
as President of Barnard College from 1994 to 2008. Prior to that, she
was on the faculty of the University of Chicago and Bryn Mawr, where
she
became the college's chief academic officer. She has been President of
the American Ethnological Society and the Philadelphia Anthropological
Society, and is a member of the American Philosophical Society and the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
-- Juliet Goodfriend, of Penn Valley, PA, is the retired founder and
President of Strategic Marketing Corporation, a global custom
marketing
research and consulting firm to the pharmaceutical industry. She
created, and is president of Bryn Mawr Film Institute, the restored
historic movie theater and film education center which serves 6000
members and provides a year-round program of movies and film courses
for
students of all ages. Her experience inspired her to help create NELI,
the nonprofit executive leadership program at Bryn Mawr College.
Goodfriend continues to address national audiences and undergraduates
around the country as a Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow.
-- Veronica (Ronne) Froman, born in Uniontown, PA, currently resides in
San
Diego, CA. A graduate of Seton Hill University, she served in the
United
States Navy for 31 years and was in charge of naval bases and stations
around the world. Froman retired from the Navy in 2001 with the rank
of
Rear Admiral. After retirement, Froman was instrumental in restoring
confidence in the floundering local chapter of the American Red Cross
after the 2003 southern California wildfires. She served as chief of
business operations for the San Diego Unified School District and in
2005 became the first chief operating officer for the city of San
Diego.
In 2007 she accepted another leadership position as senior vice
president for the energy group of General Atomics.
-- Eva Tansky Blum, of Pittsburgh, is the Senior Vice President, Director
of Community affairs, and chair and President of the PNC foundation,
where she makes a significant impact improving the lives of children,
their families, and ultimately, their communities. Blum directs the
company's philanthropic programs, including PNC Grow Up Great, a
ten-year, $100 million program to support quality early childhood
education. Blum supports her alma mater, University of Pittsburgh, by
serving on the Executive and Institutional Advancement Committees of
the
Board of Trustees, co-chairs, the University's $2 billion capital
campaign and was named Distinguished Alumna in 2007 and Distinguished
Law Alumna in 2008.
-- Toi Derricotte, of Pittsburgh, is a professor in the Department of
English at the University of Pittsburgh, and has published four books
of
poems, including Tender, winner of the prestigious Paterson Poetry
Prize, and a memoir The Black Notebooks, which received The
Anisfield-Wolf Award and was a New York Times notable book of the
year.
She has won major awards from the Rockefeller Foundation, Guggenheim
Foundation, the National Endowment of the Arts, Pushcart Prizes, the
Poetry Society of America and the University of Pittsburgh. Toi is
co-founder and director of Cave Canem, committed to the discovery and
cultivation of new voices in African-American poetry.
-- Jacqueline Collins Morby, of Pittsburgh, is an innovator in the worlds
of business and philanthropy. In 1988 Morby moved to Pittsburgh to
open
an office for TA Associates, a Boston-based private equity firm. In
2004
Morby co-founded the Cure Alzheimer's Fund which garnered Time
Magazine
and CNN's designation in 2008 as one of the "Top 10 Medical
Breakthroughs" in the world for its Alzheimer's Genome Project. A
world
traveler, Jacqui chairs the board of Population Action International.

-- C. Vivian Stringer, of Princeton, NJ, learned a valuable lesson from
her
parents growing up in northwestern Pennsylvania: "Work hard, don't
look
for excuses - you can achieve anything." Stringer is the first coach
to
take three schools to the NCAA Final Four, the historically black
college Cheyney State in 1982, University of Iowa in 1993 and the
Rutgers University's Scarlet Knights twice, totaling more than 800
victories. Stringer and the 2007 Rutgers squad captured the nation's
respect when faced with the disparaging comments of a radio "shock
jock." Stringer was inducted into the coveted Naismith Memorial
Basketball Hall of Fame on September 11, 2009.

SOURCE Pennsylvania Office of the Governor

Anne C. Bale, Commission for Women, +1-717-787-8128; or Mia DeVane, Governor's
Office, +1-717-783-1116