PRESIDENT SHAPIRO HONORED FOR HEALTH EDUCATION LEADERSHIP
President Judith Shapiro has received the 2004 Athena Award for Education from the Partnership for Gender-Specific Medicine at Columbia University in recognition of her leadership on women's health and medical education.
The award was presented on Wednesday evening, March 31, at a gala dinner at the Metropolitan Club in Manhattan. Gloria Steinem, author and founder of the Ms. Foundation for Women, was honorary chair of the event.
Shapiro was honored "for her unique vision of the importance of women to the life of New York City and for her interest in fostering programs that ensure a better understanding of gender-specific medical care."
Among Shapiro's leadership initiatives in the health area was the 2003 Barnard Summit: Women and Health, which brought to campus an influential group of policymakers, health advocates, medical specialists and researchers for a daylong forum on women's health trends worldwide. The discussion among leading figures on women's health was produced as a special program for public television and aired nationwide during March 2004, as part of Women's History Month programming. The Summit addressed the latest thinking on gender-specific diseases, changing attitudes toward health care for women, and the relevance of women's health to economic progress in the developing world. The program was supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Merck & Co., Inc. and Pfizer Inc
Barnard offers health promotion as part of its student services through the Well Woman program, an innovative approach combining body, mind and spirit. The program offers workshops on key topics like safe sex, smoking cessation and stress reduction. In addition, Barnard offers students a residential living experience devoted to health promotion.
The Partnership for Gender-Specific Medicine at Columbia is at the forefront of research and public education in this field. Dr. Marianne Legato, professor of clinical medicine at the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, is the founder and director. Legato was among 21 panelists at the 2003 Barnard Summit.
Other 2004 Athena Award winners included Linda Fairstein, former chief of the Sex Crimes Prosecution Unit for the New York County District Attorney; Patricia D. Duquette, director, Women's and International Health, Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation; The Honorable Akiko Domoto (Governor of Chiba Prefecture, Japan), and broadcast journalist Joan Hamburg, a Barnard graduate.
For more information, please contact Suzanne Trimel in the Barnard Office of Public Affairs, 212-854-2037, strimel@barnard.edu |
