Awards, Jul 24, 2003

The following awards have been presented for work in advocacy, fund raising, nonprofit leadership, philanthropy, and other areas.

Arts. The American Symphony Orchestra League (New York) and the MetLife Foundation (New York) have presented the 2003 MetLife Awards for Excellence in Community Engagement, which recognize orchestras that have effectively worked with individuals and organizations in their communities. The awards, which each included a $7,500 prize, went to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston.

The league also announced its 2003-4 class of Orchestra Management Fellows, who will complete a year-long leadership-training program. The fellows:

— Yu-Ling Cheng, coordinator for the Symphony Café Music Series at the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

— Emma E. Dunch, senior director of marketing and communications at WNYC (New York).

— Danielle Harrell, program coordinator at the Charter School Resource Center (Boston) and a teacher at the Community Music Center of Boston.

— Frances Lai, a recent graduate of the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge).

— Devin Thomas, operations manager at the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies (Minneapolis).

Education fund raising. The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (Washington) has presented its 2003 Distinguished Service Awards. The James L. Fisher Award for Distinguished Service to Education went to George Keller, a Baltimore-based consultant, writer, and lecturer on strategic planning and management in higher education. The Ernest T. Stewart Award for Alumni Volunteer Involvement was shared by Elsie Sterling Howard, president of Sterling Public Relations (Miami), and Ralph W. Vorhees, a former senior vice president at Paine Webber (New York). The award was given in recognition of their contributions and service to their alma maters, the U. of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) and Rutgers U. (New Brunswick, N.J.), respectively. The Frank L. Ashmore Award for Service to CASE and the Advancement Profession went to Judy Jasper Leicht, associate vice chancellor and executive director of communications at Washington U. in St. Louis.

CASE also presented its 2003 Chief Executive Leadership Awards, which recognize leaders who establish positive images for their institutions and help them to achieve higher success and increased stature. The winners:

— Sir George Bain, vice chancellor and president of Queen’s U. (Belfast, Northern Ireland).

— Marvalene Hughes, president of California State U. at Stanislaus.

— Don Nickerson, former headmaster of St. Gregory College Preparatory School (Tucson).

— Richard Niece, president of the U. of the Ozarks (Clarksville, Ark.).

— Susan Resneck Pierce, president of the U. of Puget Sound (Tacoma, Wash.).

— Kenneth A. (Buzz) Shaw, chancellor of Syracuse U. (N.Y.).

— Jerry Sue Thornton, president of Cuyahoga Community College (Cleveland).

— Helen Washburn, president of Cottey College (Nevada, Mo.).

— Nancy Zimpher, chancellor of the U. of Wisconsin at Milwaukee.

Nonprofit management. The Washington Council of Agencies has presented its 2003 Washington Post Award for Excellence in Nonprofit Management to Miriam’s House (Washington), a residence for homeless women with AIDS. Miriam’s House will receive a $5,000 grant.

Women. The Women’s Funding Network (San Francisco) has presented its Changing the Face of Philanthropy Awards to honor women, funds, and foundations who are leaders in providing grants for women and girls and who inspire others to participate in social-change philanthropy.

The Dallas Women’s Foundation was recognized for programs aimed at teaching women about budgets and other financial issues; grant making to benefit women and girls; and research on the needs of women and girls.

The network also gave awards to the following individuals: Marjan Sax, co-founder of Mama Cash (Amsterdam), which has established grant-making groups in developing countries; and Mary Caroline (Twink) Frey, founder, and Kym Mulhern, president and chief executive officer, of the Nokomis Foundation (Grand Rapids, Mich.), which supports advocacy and other programs that benefit women.

Youths. Boys & Girls Clubs of America (Atlanta) has presented its Herbert Hoover Humanitarian Award, which recognizes volunteers for their support of educational and youth-development programs, to Arlene Mark, an author and child psychologist, and her husband, Reuben, the chairman and chief executive officer of Colgate-Palmolive (New York). Mr. Mark helped Colgate establish health-education programs for children worldwide and has recruited employees for mentoring programs. Joel E. Smilow, former chairman and chief executive officer of Playtex Products (Westport, Conn.), received the President’s Award for leading the capital campaign of the Madison Square Boys & Girls Club (New York) and for his service on the organization’s National Board of Governors.