Laura E. Drager, acting justice of the New York State Supreme Court and a 1970 graduate of the University of Rochester, will be the keynote speaker at the annual Susan B. Anthony Legacy Dinner.
Drager will deliver the 2005 Legacy Address during the dinner on Thursday, Feb. 10. The event, which is sponsored by the Susan B. Anthony Center for Women’s Leadership and the University of Rochester Women’s Club, pays tribute to Anthony’s campaign to win women admission to the University and honors the activities of student leaders, faculty, staff, and alumnae.
The dinner is open to the public and starts at 6 p.m. in the May Room of Wilson Commons on the River Campus. The program includes presentation of the Center’s Lifetime Achievement Award and scholarships from the Women’s Club.
Drager received a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Rochester. She earned her law degree from Columbia University in 1973 and served as an assistant district attorney for New York County and Kings County. She has served as a criminal court judge since 1987 and as a justice of the state Supreme Court since 1995. Drager was the recipient of the Fannie Bigelow Prize for her achievements and contributions to the University community at Rochester.
Brenda Meehan, professor emerita of history and religion, will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award. Meehan joined the faculty of the University in 1972. She was instrumental in the creation of the program in women’s studies and later was a founding member of what is now the Susan B. Anthony Institute for Gender and Women’s Studies. She also started the Russian Studies program and directed it for 20 years. Meehan is the author of numerous articles and two books: Autocracy and Aristocracy: The Russian Service Elite of 1730, which received a National Endowment for the Humanities award for an outstanding book in the humanities; and Holy Women of Russia, considered an important contribution to the study of women’s and church history.
Several women students also will be honored for their accomplishments and contributions to University life. Three students will receive awards sponsored by the University of Rochester Women’s Club. Juniors Patricia McHale and Jennifer Muniak are the recipients of the Susan B. Anthony Scholarship, and seniors Juliet Grabowski and Rebecca Neville will be honored with the Susan B. Anthony Prize.
Also, senior Emily Feldman will be presented the Fanny R. Bigelow Prize and junior Adrienne Monley will receive the Jane R. Plitt Award. Lyndie Beth Siff, a student in the master’s of business administration program at the University’s William E. Simon Graduate School of Business, will receive the Women in Business Leadership Scholarship.
Cost for the dinner is $30 per person and $200 for a table of eight for the general public; $20 per person or $140 for a table of eight for University of Rochester students. Seating is limited and reservations are needed by Friday, Feb. 4. Seats can be reserved online at www.rochester.edu/SBA/ or by e-mail sent to acwl@mail.rochester.edu. Information is also available by contacting (585) 275-8799.