Bridget Popovic, Sr. Woman's Volunteer Service Awardee

Senior Woman's Award for Volunteer Service, 2016

For immediate release
May 1, 2016

For more information: Janet Bilandic, President Michele Bresler, chair, Public Relations The Alumnae of Northwestern University 847/869-1010; [email protected]

Bridget Popovic Receives Alumnae Senior Woman’s Service Award

Evanston, Ill. --- Bridget Popovic is the recipient of the 2016 Senior Woman’s Service Award given by The Alumnae of Northwestern University, The award, established by The Alumnae in 2002, honors a senior woman for volunteer service during her undergraduate years at Northwestern University.

Bridget, from Fairview Park, Ohio, is a senior, with two majors, Mechanical Engineering and Manufacturing and Design (McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science (McC)). She will receive her Master’s degree from McCormick in 2017.

Bridget became interested in the American Cancer Society following her father’s death from the disease when she was 17 years old; her mother is currently in remission from cancer.

When she came to Northwestern, she joined the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life and began to make a difference in the fight against cancer. She became President of Relay For Life, which meant leading a large philanthropic student group on campus and being part of an even larger national organization. She worked with hundreds of students and community members on campus, and across the Midwest and around the country. She was responsible for strengthening on-campus fundraising and off-campus sponsorship efforts with new initiatives that led to raising $100,000 each year, for a total of $400,000 in her four years at Northwestern.

Bridget co-developed a cancer survivor and caregiver manual that has been distributed to campuses nationwide. She spearheaded a project in which a song will be created for use at Relay For Life events, and expanded the newly created “Virtual Survivor” program for those unable to attend American Cancer Society events. The resource she developed has been disseminated regionally and nationally.

In addition, Bridget has worked with NASA and fellow students in helping facilitate development of educational science programming for local middle school students to encourage them to learn more about rocketry, engineering and science. She is also a founding member of St. Baldrick’s at Northwestern, a student group which recently held its inaugural on-campus event that raised over $10,000 for pediatric cancer research.

“Bridget is a fine student with an extraordinary academic load. Yet she makes time to devote herself to her passion, fighting cancer and raising awareness for those in need. She is an inspiring motivator and leader, a dedicated woman who puts her free time, if she has any, into projects aimed to help others,” note Margo Brown and Julie McDowell, chairs of The Alumnae’s Senior Woman’s Service Award committee.

Bridget will receive the Senior Woman’s Service Award of $2,500 at The Alumnae of Northwestern University’s Annual Board Meeting, which will be held in May 2016. She will also be recognized at Honors Day and commencement.

The Alumnae of Northwestern University is an all-volunteer organization of women that raises funds for a wide range of projects to benefit Northwestern while sharing the university’s academic resources with the community through its Continuing Education program. Founded in 1916, The Alumnae has given more than $7.5 million to the university in the form of grants, fellowships, scholarships, an endowed professorship, funding for special university projects, and summer internships. For more information, visit The Alumnae website (www.nualumnae.org).

NR 2016 Senior Woman’s Award/mb