Awards, Sep 06, 2001

The following awards have been presented for achievement in fund raising, management, and philanthropy:

Arts.

Americans for the Arts (Washington) has given its 2001 Selina Roberts Ottum Award, which recognizes outstanding local arts leadership, to Abel Lopez, associate producing director of GALA Hispanic Theatre (Washington). The 2001 Michael Newton Award, which recognizes exemplary leadership and dedication to supporting the arts through united arts funds, went to Aldus H. Chapin, co-founder of the United Arts Organization of Greater Washington (Falls Church, Va.). James Backas, former executive director of the Maryland State Arts Council (Baltimore), received the 2001 Gary Young Award for leadership and support of diverse artistic expression.

The National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (Washington) honored Barbara S. Robinson, chair of Arts Midwest (Minneapolis) and a former chair of the assembly, as the recipient of the 2001 Distinguished Public Service Award for service and creativity in cultivating public support for the arts in her region. The assembly, in partnership with the Illinois Arts Council Foundation (Chicago), also presented the first Sidney R. Yates National Arts Advocacy Award for commitment to public support of the arts to Rep. Louise McIntosh Slaughter, Democrat of New York.

Criminal justice. Mary Q. Hawkes, a professor emerita in sociology at Rhode Island College (Providence), has received the 2001 Maud Booth Correctional Services Award from Volunteers of America (Alexandria, Va.). The award, named after the co-founder of the organization, honors Ms. Hawkes’s leadership in improving and changing correctional systems, particularly in the treatment of female prisoners.

Education. The Education Commission of the States (Denver) has presented its first Corporate Award to Metropolitan Life Insurance and the Metropolitan Life Foundation (New York) for their commitment to improving public education. The foundation conducts annual surveys of teachers’ opinions on school policy and provides lesson plans for teachers to encourage parental involvement in schools.

Nonprofit leadership. The Durfee Foundation (Los Angeles) has named six recipients of its 2001 Durfee Sabbatical Awards, which provide outstanding leaders of Los Angeles County nonprofit organizations with up to $30,000 each to travel, write, or otherwise renew themselves. This year’s recipients are:

— Jeff Carr, executive director of the Bresee Foundation.

— Denise Fairchild, executive director of the Community Development Technologies Center.

— Mark Gold, executive director of Heal the Bay.

— Gilda Haas, executive director of Strategic Actions for a Just Economy.

— Brenda Shockley, executive director of Community Build.

— Ron Sossi, artistic director of the Odyssey Theater.

Public radio. Carl Kasell has been presented with the first President’s Award given by Development Exchange Inc. (Minneapolis) for exceptional fund-raising efforts in behalf of public radio stations. Mr. Kasell, a newscaster on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition and Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me, was recognized for his efforts in working with staff members of local stations around the country to help boost their pledge drives.

Technology. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has presented its 2001 Access to Learning Awards to Proyecto Bibliotecas Guatemala and the Biblioteca del Congreso de la Nación Argentina for practices that increase access to computers and the Internet, especially for low-income individuals. The Guatemalan libraries were noted for their computer centers in rural and accessible settings, and the Argentinian library was honored for its commitment to providing multimedia services at no cost to users and keeping its adult branch open 24 hours a day, six days a week. The awards are given to libraries, organizations, or governments outside the United States and come with a $250,000 grant for each recipient.