Dec. 2, 1997 Contact: Jamie Lawson Reeves (615) 322-2706 jamie.l.reeves@vanderbilt.edu

Vanderbilt University Opportunity Development Center Director Patricia Pierce receives inaugural Rotary award

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Patricia Pierce, director of Vanderbilt University's Opportunity Development Center, has recently been presented the 1996-97 Jean Harris Award by Rotary District Gov. John Butler and State Commissioner of Human Services Linda Rudolph.

The award, named for Jean Harris, wife of Rotary Founder Paul Harris, is given to a non-Rotarian woman who has made significant contributions toward the advancement of women. This is the inaugural year for the award. The presentation was made Nov. 10 at the Doubletree Hotel in Nashville.

During the presentation Pierce was recognized as a community leader and mentor for women, as well as a leader in numerous community and professional organizations including the American Council on Education National Identification Program Tennessee Committee. In addition to her volunteerism, she is the immediate past-president of the Board of Directors of the YWCA and the League for the Hearing Impaired. Pierce has served as a board member and president of an international organization, the Association on Higher Education and Disability. She is the recipient of numerous awards including the June Anderson Award, presented by the Women in Higher Education in Tennessee; the Promote Women Award, by CABLE; and the Mary Jane Werthan Award, presented by Vanderbilt University's Margaret Cuninggim Women's Center.

-VU-

Vanderbilt University is a private research university of approximately 5,800 undergraduates and 4,200 graduate and professional students. Founded in 1873, the University comprises 10 schools, a public policy institute, a distinguished medical center and The Freedom Forum First Amendment Center. Vanderbilt offers undergraduate programs in the liberal arts and sciences, education and human development, engineering and music, and a full range of graduate and professional degrees.

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