Four distinguished alumnae to be awarded the 2018 College Medal

Kira Barrett
Assistant News Editor

Each spring Smith awards members of its alumnae with the Smith College Medal in recognition of their outstanding achievements in business and the world. This year, four distinguished alumnae will be awarded the medal Rochelle “Shelly” Braff Lazarus ’68, Ann Stringfellow Masten ’73, Rebecca Rabinow ’88 and Kimberly Scott ’91. 

Lazarus is the former CEO of the marketing and public relations agency Ogilvy and Mather. In July 2012, she became the chairman emeritus of the company. In an October 1998 edition of Fortune Magazine, Lazarus was ranked number four in their list of “50 Most Powerful Women in American Business.” 

Lazarus received her M.B.A. from Columbia Business School. She is a member of the American Advertising Federation Hall of Fame and the Direct Marketing Association’s Hall of Fame. She also acted as chair of the Board of Trustees at Smith from 1998 to 2003. 

Masten is a psychologist specialized in child development. She is currently a Professor within the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota. On the University of Minnesota’s official website, Masten writes that her recent research “has focused on school success in homeless and other disadvantaged mobile children, with a focus on malleable protective processes, including parenting and self-regulation skills.” 

Masten was awarded the American Psychological Association’s Urie Bronfenbrenner Award for Lifetime Contributions to Developmental Psychology in the Service of Science and Society. 

Rabinow is a successful museum curator. Now the director of the Menil Collection in Houston, Texas, Rabinow was previously a member of the curatorial staff at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City from 1990 to 2016. 

On the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s official website, Rabinow is acclaimed for her involvement in over 20 different special exhibits. She has won numerous awards for her work, including the Dedalus Foundation’s inaugural Exhibition Catalogue Award and the Frick Center for the History of Collecting’s Biennial Prize for her exhibit “The Steins Collect: Matisse, Picasso, and the Parisian Avant-Garde.” 

Scott is an Associate Professor in the Women and Gender Studies Department at Arizona State University. The university’s official website states that Scott founded and acts as the executive director of the Center for Gender Equity in Science and Technology at Arizona State University. 

Her work is dedicated to helping women and girls to pursue their education and careers in math and science departments. In 2014, Scott was recognized as a STEM Access Champion of Change at the White House. In an interview with the National Science Foundation, she explained that the recognition was “not only a distinct honor, but also an acknowledgement of the need to teach girls technological skills in an engaging and transformative way”.

President Kathleen McCartney will present the medals on Rally Day.