A distinctive evening

YWCA Princeton spotlights role models for today’s women.

By: Christian Kirkpatrick
      It was a night to feel proud of 18 women and their remarkable accomplishments.
      The YWCA Princeton’s 2003 "Tribute to Women" awards dinner, which was held at the Hyatt Regency, toasted 18 honorees, each nominated by a manager or colleague, for their outstanding service to their professions and their communities.
      Mayor Phyllis Marchand, for example, was recognized for both her decades of service as a Princeton Township official and her many volunteer activities, including those for the YWCA. As the event’s honorary chair, Her Honor individually recognized the award winners, who were also profiled in a film featuring them and the people who nominated them.
      The honorees work in a variety of fields, prime among which is medicine.
      As the medical director of The Medical Center at Princeton’s Merwick Unit and its Hospice Program, Dr. Kathy L. Ales encourages communication among patients, family and care providers on the necessary but painful subject of dying.
      Dr. Linda F. Sieglen chairs the Medical Center’s Department of Anesthesiology and was the Center’s first female president of medical and dental staff. She is also president of Princeton Anesthesia Services, P.C.
      Dr. Margaret Lancefield is a practicing internist who also teaches clinical medicine and serves as the medical director of the Medical Center’s charity care clinics. There, she implemented a drug-payment structure that cost needy patients only a small co-pay and saved the Medical Center more than $200,000.
      The Rev. Sally T. Osmer also serves the poor. As director of The Crisis Ministry of Princeton and Trenton, she helps more than 1,000 people each month find food and money for rent or utilities.
      The Rev. Hazel V. Staats-Westover is the United Church of Christ chaplain at Princeton University, the first director of the university’s Women’s Center and president of Church Women United.
      Several of the honorees work in education.
      Dr. R. Barbara Gitenstein is the first female president of The College of New Jersey, an active scholar and a board member for many civic organizations.
      Eleven years ago, Charlotte Bialek began volunteering in the Princeton Regional Schools; today she is president of the Board of Education.
      As chair of the board of trustees of Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart, Pauline Wood Egan initiated and headed a campaign that has raised almost $10 million to expand the school’s programs and facilities.
      Fund-raising is also an important part of Leslie B. Burger’s life. As director of the Princeton Public Library, she has helped to raise more than $10.5 million for the new facility.
      Karin Trainer, the first woman to serve as Princeton University librarian, oversees 20 facilities and an operating budget of more than $34.5 million.
      Some of the honorees work as public servants.
      Lt. Col. Lori A. Hennon-Bell is acting deputy superintendent of administration for the New Jersey State Police. She oversees a staff of more than 1,000 and a budget of more than $300 million.
      Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Debra M. Johnson became the first directly elected mayor of South Brunswick Township. An active volunteer in church and civic activities, she directs the New Jersey Office of Legal and Regulatory Affairs.
      Jane Altman is a founding partner in the firm of Altman and Legband, Attorneys at Law. An expert in family law, she has volunteered her expertise with Womanspace since 1979 and has taught domestic relations law to paralegals at Mercer County Community College.
      Louise Mehrotra volunteers with MCCC’s Bridge to Employment program and is a visiting lecturer at The College of New Jersey. She is vice president of finance for Janssen Pharmaceutica, Inc.
      Jyoti Chopra also excels in business. As director of Multicultural and Diversified Business Development for Merrill Lynch’s Global Private Client Group, she is responsible for strategic planning, new business organization, community leadership and client relationship.
      Kimberley C. Klinger is vice-president of human resources for Bracco Diagnostics, Inc. There, she helped to establish Volunteer Day, a program that allows employees to take a day from their jobs to work with local nonprofit organizations.
      A longtime volunteer with organizations serving battered women and the autistic, Janet L. Stern is program director of The Arts Council of Princeton. There she has managed and implemented programs in the literary, cinematic, musical and dramatic arts, while promoting partnerships between the arts council and other community organizations.
      The event’s chair, Doodie Meyer, was very pleased with this year’s honorees and with the tribute dinner, which drew about 400 guests. She noted that the women honored were being recognized not only for their personal and professional accomplishments but for their common commitment to empowering women and advancing diversity, goals shared by the YWCA.
      Proceeds from the event will benefit the YWCA Princeton.
      Event sponsors included Merrill Lynch, Janssen Pharmaceutica, The Medical Center at Princeton, Bracco Diagnostics Inc. and First Union.