Marg Helgenberger
Distinguished Alumnae Award Recipient, 2012
Best known for her role as the main character in the CBS drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000-12), she earned 2 Emmy nominations and 2 Golden Globe nominations. In 2012 Marg received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her television work. In 2015 she brought that character back in the television film Immortality and in the second and third season of the.sequel series CSI: Vegas (2022-24) In addition to television, she has appeared in a number of films including Erin Brockovich and In Good Company. As a result ot her mother’s 27-year battle against breast cancer, she has hosted a cancer charity event since 1999.
Jeongyoon Yeo
STEM Scholarship Recipient, 2022
Jeongyoon (Cassia) Yeo, WCAS, from Fullerton, Calif., is majoring in mathematics and biological sciences. She plans on pursuing an MD/PhD program to prepare her for a career as a physician/scientist. Her goal is to become a surgical oncologist. In addition, she would like to do genetic research. Jeongyoon received the U.S. House of Representatives Certificate of Congressional Recognition as a STEM scholar in high school. She is also a recipient of the Gold Medal President’s Volunteer Service Award.
Catherine Choi
STEM Scholarship Recipient, 2023
Catherine Choi, Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences (WCAS), from Bayside, NY, is a member of the class of 2025, as a candidate for a Bachelor of Science degree. Catherine is majoring in Global Health and Neuroscience and plans to apply to medical school while completing an accelerated MPH. Her goal is to become a surgical oncologist. She is also interested in serving communities where healthcare and medical expertise are most needed.
Maria Comninou
Distinguished Alumnae Award Recipient, 1984
M.S. 1971 in Applied Mechanics, Ph.D. 1973, in Philosophy in Applied Mechanics Mechanical engineer, engineering educator and Nobel Prize winner Comninou joined the faculty of the University of Michigan (MU) in 1974, as an assistant professor. In 1985 she was promoted to professor of mechanical engineering and applied mechanics. Her research on “interface cracks” was honored by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers with a Henry Hess Award and five other societies, including a 1978 Noble Prize. She published more than 90 papers on the many aspects of contact and crack problems and on elastic waves at interfaces. Her research had a significant impact on the micromechanics of composites and on modeling of earthquakes and faults. After earning a law degree (cum laude) in December 1996 she was admitted to the Michigan Bar. After retiring from MU in 2000, she worked as patent attorney for a Michigan law firm, and later as an independent contractor until her retirement in 2014.
Carole Kamin Bellows
Distinguished Alumnae Award Recipient, 1978
Olga Jonasson
Distinguished Alumnae Award Recipient, 1979
Georgie Ann Geyer
Distinguished Alumnae Award Recipient, 1981
Mabel Smythe-Haith
Distinguished Alumnae Award Recipient, 1983
MA 1940 American diplomat
In 1962 President John F. Kennedy appointed Smythe to the State
Department’s Advisory Council for African American Affairs. In 1977
President Jimmy Carter selected her as the U.S. Ambassador to
Cameroon and the Republic of Equatorial Guina. She was also appointed
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs. From 1981
to1985 she taught at Northwestern and served as the Melville J.
Heskovits Professor and director of African studies. Following her 1985
retirement, she became a guest scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
Wendy Lee Gramm
Distinguished Alumnae Award Recipient, 1988
Ph.D. 1971 in economics, American Economist and former Chair of the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission Gramm held several positions in President Ronald Reagan and President George W. Bush’s administrations, including executive director of the Presidential Task Force on Regulatory Relief, head of the White House Office of Management and Budget’s regulatory review office, director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Economics, head of the Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) from 1985 to 1988, and head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) from 1988 to 1993. After a lobbying campaign and President Bill Clinton’s election, she resigned from CFTC and took a seat on the Enron Board of Directors and served on Enron’s Audit Committee. Gramm also served as a director of the Independent Women’s Forum, a conservative women’s group, and sat on the boards of Iowa Beef Processors, INVESCO Funds, Longitude, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and State Farm Insurance Companies.
Sherry Lansing
Distinguished Alumnae Award Recipient, 1989
SOC BSS 1966 cum laude
Hollywood film producer, and former President of Productions 20th Century Fox. During her nearly 30-year career in the film industry, Lansing was involved in the production, marketing and distribution of more than 200 films, including three Academy Award-winning movies: “Forrest Gump” (1994), “Braveheart” (1995), and “Titanic” (1997). In 1984 she became the first woman to head a major film studio when she took the top job at 20th Century Fox. As an independent producer, she was responsible for such successful films as “Fatal Attraction” (1987), “The Accused” (1988), “Black Rain” (1989), “School Ties” (1992) and “Indecent Proposal” (1993). In 1992 Lansing was named Chair and CEO of Paramount Pictures, where she began a creative and successful 12-year tenure. She is the first female movie studio head to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. While best known for her long and successful career as a studio executive, she also spent four years after college teaching high school English and math at public schools throughout the Los Angeles area. A believer in the power of education, she is the CEO of The Sherry Lansing Foundation and sits on many boards, including The Carter Center, the Entertainment Industry Foundation, and the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. She also is a Trustee of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles, where she co-founded the scholarship program.