When Cecelia Rios-Aguilar ’03W (MA), ’07W (PhD) considers the cultural heritage, family and community life, experiences, and interests of her students, particularly racial and ethnic minorities, she sees opportunity and potential.

Rios-Aguilar avoids deficit thinking, which often focuses on language barriers or sociocultural challenges. Instead she recognizes essential skills, cultural insights, talents, and abilities. She considers these the “funds of knowledge” endowed in minority and marginalized students by virtue of their diverse experiences and history. When brought into classrooms, curricula, and student services, these funds of knowledge can provide a solid foundation for learning. This idea forms the basis of Rios-Aguilar’s research.

With diversity, equity, and inclusion as her focus, Rios-Aguilar seeks to understand how students at community colleges in particular make decisions about their education and majors, what institutions do to help or hinder this decision-making process, and how to better incorporate funds of knowledge into institutional programs and policy.

In her research, Rios-Aguilar not only sifts through big data and supportive research, she also gathers information from students and their families, face to face in their homes and communities, to better understand the challenges people of color face in education. She recommends ways for educators, administrators, and policymakers to counter deficit thinking, close achievement gaps, increase persistence and completion rates, and help students transition to four-year institutions or navigate a complicated job market.

“I really want us to take a look back at classrooms as sites of hope, possibilities, and transformations. That’s where your students are … and it’s beautiful to see them. Let’s rethink how we spend time together with them, having honest conversations, and yes, connecting it to content. It is possible, colleagues. We just have to be open and flexible to do pedagogy in a different way.”

—Cecelia Rios-Aguilar

Born in Mexico City, Rios-Aguilar was the first of her family to attend college. She earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México.

Rios-Aguilar achieved her dream of getting a master’s degree in the United States, earning an MS in educational administration as well as a PhD in education theory and policy from the Warner School of Education at the URochester. She became an assistant professor at the University of Arizona and an associate professor at Claremont Graduate University in California.

Rios-Aguilar then moved to UCLA, first directing the Higher Education Research Institute before becoming a professor of education and associate dean of equity, diversity, and inclusion in the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies.

With support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and others, Rios-Aguilar’s research remains focused on the issues that marginalized students face in education. As an expert in the field of diversity in higher education, Rios-Aguilar addresses these issues in lectures, public-speaking engagements, scholarly papers, and in her latest book, Funds of Knowledge in Higher Education: Honoring Students’ Cultural Experiences and Resources as Strengths.

Rios-Aguilar consistently urges institutions of higher learning to collaborate with students through research-based partnerships, active listening, and an approach that recognizes the assets they bring to learning and educational programs. She believes that student supports must be continually reshaped to align with evolving labor markets, and the need to engage students directly in program design and structure has never been more urgent.

Awards and Honors

• Hispanic Research Issues SIG Research in Elementary, Secondary or Postsecondary Education Award Recipient
• Research Scholar Fellowship, Center for Latino Achievement and Success in Education (CLASE), College of Education, University of Georgia
• Walter I. Garms Award for Educational Leadership Program, Warner Graduate School of Education and Human Development, Ģ����ý
• Scandling Scholarship Award, Warner Graduate School of Education and Human Development, Ģ����ý

As a spiritual woman and dedicated physician, Ruby Belton ’72M (MD), ’74M (Res) believes she was put on this earth to heal people. From the age of six, that’s all she has ever wanted to do.

Growing up in Mississippi, Belton watched her young mother struggle to care for herself and her nine children. They were in the South at a tumultuous time and had no insurance, no regular checkups, and no health care of any kind. Belton’s family went to a doctor only when absolutely necessary.

These conditions spurred Belton’s childhood resolve to become a doctor. That ambition continued throughout her undergraduate studies at Jackson State College. She went on to attend medical school with the help of a Macy’s Foundation fellowship. And in 1972 Belton became the first African American woman to graduate from the Ģ����ý School of Medicine and Dentistry.

When she became a resident, Belton first bought health insurance for her mother. She then served a medical and surgical residency at Strong Memorial Hospital and completed her radiological residency at Rochester General Hospital as co-chief resident. As a board-certified radiologist, Belton specialized in breast cancer imaging and diagnosis while strongly advocating for regular mammograms.

“Patients coming in for mammograms complain to our staff because getting the posterior views of the breast can be uncomfortable. I tell them, ‘Stop complaining. You want the posterior view because that’s where the cancer is.’ It’s about education.”

—Ruby Belton

Belton later cofounded Physicians and Laypersons Educational Associates (PLEA) of Greater Rochester, New York, with her son, Douglas Belton Jr. ’04M (MD), a fellow radiologist. The first multigenerational African Americans to graduates from the medical school, the Beltons bring together medical specialists and health care professionals to share life-saving information with laypeople and breast cancer patients.

PLEA seminars take place at Locust Hill Country Club in Pittsford. The people most in need of information, those fighting breast cancer, were slow to participate at first. The Beltons quickly took steps to make the event and seminars more inclusive and affordable to all, especially underserved and under-represented communities.

Patients now pay only what they can afford, and PLEA takes care of the rest, funding more than 50 percent of participants who otherwise could not attend. The events give patients of all walks of life a welcoming and safe place to ask questions and enjoy themselves.

Belton stresses the importance of education and prevention, insisting, “There is no value anyone can place on the knowledge of how to avoid certain cancers and improve your prognosis once you’re diagnosed.”

Belton’s career in medicine spans 47 years of breast cancer imaging, detection, and interventional procedures. She also has specialties in gastrointestinal and gynecological radiology and the interpretation of genitourinary imaging. She has held leadership positions at Unity Hospital, Rochester General Hospital, and several UR Medicine facilities. Belton and her husband of 46 years, Douglas Belton Sr., also have a daughter, Shayla Belton, a veterinary doctor.

Long before European settlers arrived on Native American soil, the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy lived in a free and democratic society. The Great Council of the Haudenosaunee, or People of the Long House, governed on the principles of peace, unity, and the “power of the good mind.” Their goal was to enlighten and transform any enemy or destructive force into a friend and ally.

One exceptionally good mind, Naomi Lee ’07 (MS), ’13 (PhD), is driven by these principles through her work in biomedical research, STEM education, and mentoring.

In Lee’s research to detect, treat, and prevent disease, she develops vaccines that may transform the viral enemies of human health into powerful allies. Through mentorship, Lee encourages Native American and other young people of color to pursue their interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Lee has summed up her path and mission with a simple prayer of the Lakota Sioux: Hecel lena oyate ki nipi kte—“So that the people may live.”

“We need to start getting our Native students through these pathways to academia and research. That’s one of my goals. If we increase the pool at a younger age, you’re more likely to get more students through this academic path.”

—Naomi Lee

Lee was born and raised on the Seneca Cattaraugus Indian Reservation in western New York. She never felt poor or underprivileged because everyone on “the rez” shared the same hardships. Lee’s parents worked on the reservation, her father at a gas station and her mother at a laundromat.

Of mixed race, Lee faced ridicule and bullying both off the reservation (at a Catholic school) and on the reservation. Regardless, she did very well in her studies. Lee went on to achieve a bachelor’s degree from Rochester Institute of Technology as well as master’s and doctoral degrees from the URochester.

Lee took a leave of absence and two years away from her studies to care for her ailing parents. She also joined the Army National Guard. As a Seneca and “Keeper of the Western Door,” Lee believes her motivation along with that of many Native Americans to join the military comes from an inherent will to protect her people and defend ancestral lands.

After losing both parents in 2009, Lee recognized the prevalence of serious health issues and disease in tribal communities. She returned to the University with a renewed interest in infectious diseases and earned a PhD in chemistry in 2013. When she launched a career in biomedical research, she had one primary goal: to improve the lives of American Indian and Native people.

As a research fellow at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Lee first tackled the human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6), a widespread infection responsible for children’s roseola. At the University of New Mexico’s Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Lee focused her research on human papillomavirus (HPV) and the associated risk factors for cervical cancer among American Indian women of the Great Plains.

Lee joined the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Northern Arizona University in 2018. In her lab, Lee and her team design and develop powerful peptide and protein-based vaccines. Composed of virus-like particles and self-assembling peptides, these vaccines provoke a strong immune response against infection and disease, such as HIV, Hepatitis B, and cancer-causing strains of HPV.

In addition to her research, Lee mentors young people to increase diversity in STEM education and she serves as a captain in the Army National Guard.

Awards and Honors

• First and only American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) United States doctoral recipient in chemistry
• AISES Professional of the Year award, 2018
• Member, American Chemical Society
• Member, Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science
• Member, American Indian Science and Engineering Society

As a medical doctor and advocate for women’s education and economic independence, Sarwat Malik always felt 30 years ahead of her time. Breaking through barriers, fighting discriminatory policy, and holding her own in a male-dominated profession, Sarwat established a successful medical practice while raising a family in Rochester, New York. Sarwat and her daughter, Nadia Malik ’92, ’94S (MBA), also cofounded the Global Partnership for Women and Girls, a project dedicated to the advancement of Muslim women worldwide.

Sarwat’s story began even before she was born, with her mother Walayat Begum. Orphaned at a young age and denied her inheritance, Begum sought to give her five daughters a secure future through education, and she encouraged all of them to become medical doctors. Sarwat and her elder sister, Shafqat, fulfilled their mother’s wish before her untimely death in 1966 at the age of 50. Sarwat carried on practicing internal medicine in the US, while Shafqat trained to become a surgeon in London and later a psychiatrist in the US.

In 1967, a newly married Sarwat read a scholarly paper written by her husband, Professor Salahuddin (Salah) Malik, on the rights, roles, and responsibilities of women in the three Abrahamic faiths. Salah’s research opened Sarwat’s eyes and mind to a question: If Muslim women had more rights and privileges than their peers in the Christian and Jewish traditions, why did their God-given rights often go unrecognized? As a woman of faith, spirituality, and critical reasoning, Sarwat sought to understand why this was the case. In doing so, she planted the seed for her future work.

In 2007, while studying reports from the International Finance Corporation, the World Bank, and other agencies, Sarwat and Nadia found clear-cut data showing that Muslim women lagged their peers globally in education, health, employment, and lifespan. Further exploration showed clearly that this was driven primarily by economic dependence, a lack of education, and issues of culture trumping faith. Narrowing the gender gap could lead to better outcomes for women and their families, lifting them out of poverty and securing better futures for their children.

“In the United States, I have found the freedom to speak up for my rights and the rights of others without any fear of repercussions. I’d like to see every woman empowered in a way that she feels that she has the dignity, respect, human rights, and desire to do something positive in the world.”

—Sarwat Malik

In founding the Global Partnership for Women and Girls (GPWG), Sarwat and her daughter realized they were the lucky ones—living in the United States, with greater access to education, resources, and freedom of choice. Nadia and Sarwat both served their community and achieved a great many things in banking and medicine, respectively. The Maliks then focused their attention on helping Muslim women and girls to realize their full potential. Knowing this was sensitive work, the Maliks understood the importance of working with local or indigenous communities, especially men and boys, to ensure the cultural integrity and success of these local projects.

As a former banker with a bachelor’s degree in economics and an MBA from the Simon Business School at the URochester, Nadia approached the issue from a geopolitical and socioeconomic lens; the 800 million Muslim women and girls in the world represent an eighth of the world’s population, and they could have an enormous impact on their nations’ economies, GDP, and per capita incomes if provided the chance.

“Resilient and strong communities can only exist where women are playing a full and active part. Financial security of women benefits not just the individual but the entire family and can help lift communities out of poverty.”

—Nadia Malik

With seed capital provided by Sarwat, GPWG set out to advance educational and economic opportunities for women and girls by providing small, flexible grants to local partners in Muslim communities. Aided by grant support, contributions, and the cooperation of organizations such as the Clinton Global Initiative and the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, Tostan, and other partners, GPWG has supported projects in Afghanistan, Egypt, India, Pakistan, Palestine, and Senegal.

Born in Pakistan, Sarwat graduated from the all-women’s Fatima Jinnah Medical College in 1965 and practiced internal medicine for 41 years in Rochester. Diagnosed with stage four metastatic lung cancer in 2007, Sarwat retired from her practice in 2008 to focus on her health and to develop GPWG. Defying the odds, she lived seven more years until her death in 2013, a loss keenly felt by her husband of 47 years, two daughters, family, friends, colleagues, and patients.

Nadia Malik continues to carry on the mission at GPWG, often traveling off the beaten path around the world to better understand local projects, meet with leaders, and assess proposed projects to ensure they align with GPWG’s mission.

Awards and Honors

Sarwat Malik

• Founding president of FJMCNA – Fatima Jinnah Medical College Alumni Association of North America
• Founding president of AMWAR – American Medical Women’s Association of Rochester
• Medical Medal of Honor for her service to Rochester, New York’s Native American community
• Woman of the Year Award by Women’s Forum of the Islamic Center of Rochester, 2007
• 21 Women for the 21st Century, Women’s eNews Award, 2010
• Cofounder of the Muslim Women’s Fund

Nadia Malik

• Nadia and Sarwat Malik ranked No. 9 on OnWallStreet.com’s Power Givers List: Philanthropic Women Helping Women, 2010
• Fellow, BMW Responsible Leaders
• Fellow, Aspen Arthur Vining Davis Fellow (Aspen Institute)
• Chairman, Board of Governors, Off the Record, Foreign Policy Association, 2014–2018
• Member, Board of Directors, Foreign Policy Association, 2014–2018
• Director, Great Decisions Television, Foreign Policy Association
• Member, Board of Directors, SUNY Brockport Foundation, 2014–2017
• Member, Program Committee at the Harvard Club of New York

Susan B. Anthony voted only once in her decades-long struggle for women’s suffrage, and she did so illegally.

On November 5, 1872, Anthony marched into the polls near her home in Rochester, New York, demanding to vote in the presidential election. She insisted her right to vote was inherent in the Fourteenth Amendment, which reads, “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges of citizens of the United States.”

The pollsters could not deny that Anthony was indeed a citizen and thus allowed her to vote. However, this resulted in the pollsters and Anthony getting arrested, charged, and indicted.

On the day of her sentencing, Anthony delivered her most fiery and famous speech. She denounced the court, the judicial system, and a government that not only failed to represent her but instead subjugated every woman in the United States. These words would come to exemplify Anthony’s lifelong fight for equality and human rights.

“In your verdict of guilty, you have trampled underfoot every vital principle of our government. My natural rights, my civil rights, my political rights, my judicial rights, are all alike ignored. Robbed of the fundamental privilege of citizenship, I am degraded from the status of a citizen to that of a subject; and not only myself individually, but all of my sex, are, by your honor’s verdict, doomed to political subjection under this so-called form of government.”

—Susan B. Anthony

Born to a Quaker family in Adams, Massachusetts, Susan Brownell Anthony inherited a keen sense of social justice from her parents and community.

Anthony began petitioning for the abolitionist movement at the age of 17. This would turn into a lifelong effort to secure citizenship and the fundamental right to vote for all people.

Anthony later started the Women’s National Loyal League with Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Their goal was to rally support for the Thirteenth Amendment and for an end to slavery. She also helped found the National Woman Suffrage Association, the American Equal Rights Association, and the International Council of Women.

When the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments failed to include women, Anthony lashed out in bitterness and disillusionment. Her racially charged statements at that time sadly tarnished her enduring legacy.

Nevertheless, Anthony continued to speak out against prejudice, racial violence, and intolerance in the pages of her newspaper, the����𱹴DZ��ܳپ��Dz�. At this juncture, however, she made women’s suffrage her primary mission.

“Oh, if I could but live another century and see the fruition of all the work for women. There is so much yet to be done.”

—Susan B. Anthony

Anthony traveled often and delivered as many as 75 to 100 speeches a year to advocate for the cause. She also led the Working Women’s Association in advocating for labor rights and reforms, equal pay for women, access to male-dominated professions for women, and an eight-hour workday.

In addition to all of these efforts, Anthony had a profound impact on the Ģ����ý by pushing for women to be admitted to the University. She pledged her life insurance savings to meet the University’s financial demands in allowing the admittance of women. This permanently altered the structure of the University and helped advance inclusivity.

Sadly, Anthony did not live to see the day that women finally achieved the vote on August 18, 1920. However, we certainly have her to thank for the privilege in our centennial celebration of the Nineteenth Amendment.

In 1879, the Ģ����ý unveiled a striking marble bust of abolitionist, activist, and local legend Frederick Douglass. At the dedication, Martin Brewster Anderson, the first president of the University, spoke of his admiration and respect for Douglass, a man born into slavery who yet “raised himself to the level of the foremost orators, philanthropists, and emancipators of the day.”

As friends and fellow abolitionists, Anderson and Douglass recommended and shared books, exchanged ideas, and engaged in lively discussions about the important issues of the day. University students would likewise gather in the library to discuss articles and ideas that appeared in the North Star, an antislavery newspaper written and published by Douglass in Rochester.

This steadfast support and recognition of the contributions and potential within the black community finally came to fruition in 1891, when Charles Augustus Thompson became the first African American man to graduate from the University. It took another 40 years for a woman to mark the same achievement. Beatrice Amaza Howard ’31, ’33 (MA) earned both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree at the URochester.

Born in New Jersey on March 20, 1909, Howard moved to Rochester at the age of two with her parents, both graduates of Hampton Institute in Virginia. Howard enjoyed the benefits of integrated classrooms at East High School, and she graduated at the top of her class. She was able to afford her education at the University with the help of an academic scholarship, and she worked part-time and summer jobs rather than rely on her parents for financial support.

Howard excelled in her college studies and, in 1931, she became the first African American woman to graduate from the URochester, earning a bachelor’s degree in math. She carried on at the University to achieve her MA in education in 1933.

She participated in many college activities and sports, including baseball, basketball, hockey, and Zeta Phi Beta, a traditionally Black sorority. In later years, Howard did not recall experiencing any racial prejudice at the University.

After graduating, Howard spent most of her career in Baltimore, teaching math and other subjects in public schools. In 1943, she married Abraham Hall, who died three years later. She outlived him by 50 years, dying in Macon, Alabama, in 1996.

Successful real estate executive and community leader Amy Tait ’85S (MBA) clearly benefited from a stellar education, including an MBA from the Simon Business School at the URochester. But she also learned a lot from one of her lifelong mentors—her father, Norman Leenhouts.

Identical twins Nelson and Norman Leenhouts, both Ģ����ý graduates, cofounded Home Leasing Corp. in 1967. Over the next three decades, the Leenhouts brothers turned their small family business into a $150 million empire headquartered at their own 14-story building, Clinton Square, in downtown Rochester. The company issued an initial public offering in 1994 and became Home Properties Inc., the first publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) in upstate New York.

After three years in management training and commercial lending at Chemical Bank, Tait joined the Home Leasing team in 1983. She had not intended to go into the family business, but after an enjoyable collaboration with her father, she found the streamlined acquisition process refreshing. She also enjoyed the travel and the creative aspects of restoring properties.

When Home Leasing became Home Properties in 1993 and went public the following year, Tait continued to serve as executive vice president until 2001. She then became director and chairman of the Home Properties Real Estate Investment Committee until 2012, while at the same time planning and preparing for her next venture.

Under Tait’s leadership, the company prospered and grew in total market capitalization to more than $6 billion. In October 2015, Lone Star Funds, a private equity firm, bought Home Properties for $7.6 billion.

“I had the benefit of working side-by-side with my father for over three decades. We thought a lot alike and agreed on almost every business decision. He exemplified servant leadership, and our employees and investors were always placed first. Being fair, considerate, and ethical was just our natural way of working.”

—Amy Tait

After stepping away from Home Properties in 2001, Tait enjoyed spending more time with her husband, Bob, and their two young children, Alex and Margaret. She also cofounded Broadstone Real Estate, LLC, with Bob and Norman. As chairman and CEO of Broadstone, Tait acquired, developed, and managed more than $2 billion in assets, and she oversaw the company’s three highly successful REITs.

In December 2019, one of the REITs, Broadstone Net Lease Inc., announced plans for an initial public offering in 2020. In preparation for the IPO, BNI internalized management in February and finalized the acquisition of BNI assets for $375 million in cash, stock, operations partnership units, and performance incentives.

Tait now serves as chairman for Broadstone Net Lease Inc., and she is on the board of governors for the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts.

Tait lost her beloved father and mentor in 2017. Norman Leenhouts’ legacy and her own will carry on for generations through their companies and the lives, work places, living spaces, and landscapes they improved and developed across North America.

Awards and Honors

• Susan B. Anthony Promise Award
• Simon School Distinguished Alumna Award
• United Way Alexis de Tocqueville Award
• Rochester Athena Award
• Rochester Business Hall of Fame

When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared war on Japan.

Fearing reprisals from within, the Department of War arrested Japanese community leaders and froze all Japanese banking and financial assets. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 allowing the secretary of war to designate military areas “from which any or all persons may be excluded.” The order effectively authorized the removal of all people of Japanese origin or descent from the entire West Coast for the duration of the war.

Ruth Taiko Watanabe ’52E (PhD) was among the many thousands displaced and imprisoned. She was born and raised in Los Angeles, and was a bright student at the University of Southern California.

At 26, Watanabe had already earned a bachelor’s degree and two master’s degrees in music and English at USC. She had planned to complete her doctoral studies but was now forced to leave with little more than the clothes on her back.

Watanabe’s professor, Pauline Alders, offered a frightened Watanabe these words of consolation: “As long as you’re alive, there’s nothing you can’t live without.”

With barely enough time to store their belongings, Watanabe and her parents left behind their family home and business to live in crude, overcrowded barracks at the Santa Anita Assembly Center.

Watanabe drew strength from her professor’s wisdom, and she used her education to make life more bearable for others at camp. Each Sunday before crowds of nearly 5,000, Watanabe took to the Santa Anita Grandstand to speak about music and play recordings provided by friends on the outside.

Some of her peers did make it out of internment camps through higher education, but Watanabe could find no doctoral programs outside of designated military areas. She thus proceeded to a permanent facility, the Granada War Relocation Center in Colorado, Camp Amache.

She resigned herself to teaching in the children’s center there—until a telegram arrived from Howard Hanson, the director of the Eastman School of Music. Learning of her plight, Hanson offered Watanabe a student fellowship at the URochester, and she, of course, accepted.

Her family’s assets frozen, Watanabe arrived in Rochester with little means. She found a part-time job at Sibley Music Library as a “fetch it” girl, and she loved it. “I never knew that a library could be so much fun,” she remarked, as her days at the library both enriched her studies and lifted her spirits.

Watanabe went on to become head of circulation at the library in 1944. To Watanabe’s astonishment, Hanson named her librarian in 1947. In doing so, Hanson encouraged Watanabe to do whatever she wanted to “bring the library into a position of leadership.”

Watanabe proceeded to build one of the greatest collections of musical scores and research materials in the world. She acquired an extraordinary collection of rare books in postwar Europe. She also created a rare books department, a reading room, and a conservation laboratory to maintain the collection.

By the time she retired in 1984, Watanabe had established the Sibley Music Library as one of the finest in the world, with a collection so important and vast it required a new home in the Miller Center. As librarian emerita and official archivist, Watanabe attended the opening in 1989.

In 1996, the library officially named the Ruth T. Watanabe Special Collections in her honor.

On the surface, Renée Richards ’59M (MD) seemed like a happy, well-adjusted kid from the Forest Hills neighborhood of Queens, New York. She did well in school and excelled in sports, particularly tennis. She also fit in with her friends and peers. But from the age of nine, she felt like she was different.

Richards grew into an all-American teenager of exceptional intellect, talent, and athleticism. She attended Yale University and became captain of the men’s tennis team, where she perfected a powerful left-hand serve.

The child of two physicians, Richards went on to study medicine at the URochester, graduating in 1959 with a specialization in ophthalmology. She interned at Lenox Hill Hospital and completed residency at the Manhattan Eye, Ear, and Throat Hospital.

All the while, Richards played competitive tennis, appearing in the US Open several times between 1953 and 1960 and reaching the semifinals in 1972.

Richards often struggled with her sexual identity, and privately adopted the name Renée, meaning rebirth. Eventually, Richards identified publicly as a woman, and would become the first and only transgender individual to play in both the men’s and women’s tournaments in the US Open.

“I became a professional tennis player, hoping that I could help raise awareness about transsexuals. Some players were against me going on the women’s tennis tour.”

—Renée Richards

During her internship in New York City, Renée began to assert herself. Following her residency, Richards enlisted in the Navy to complete her medical training. She won the All-Navy Championship in men’s singles and doubles tennis while in the service.

After leaving the military, Richards could no longer tolerate the closet. She began receiving hormone injections and lived as a woman in Europe, making plans for gender reassignment surgery in Morocco. Seeing conditions at the clinic, Richards retreated to New York.

She met and married Barbara Mole in 1970. The couple had a son two years later and divorced in 1975. That same year, Richards underwent multiple surgeries to complete her transition.

After moving to California, Richards began competing in local tennis tournaments. She then braved angry protests, barbs, and boycotts to play competitive tennis on the women’s circuit.

The United States Tennis Association (USTA) took action, instituting a chromosome test to qualify participants by their gender at birth. Richards refused to take the test, disqualifying her from play. Instead she sued the USTA for gender discrimination and won.

The New York State Supreme Court found the test “grossly unfair, discriminatory and inequitable, and in violation of her rights.” Richards went on to compete in the 1977 US Open, and though she lost the competition, she broke new ground in transgender rights, the reverberations of which can be felt to this day.

Richards had a long career as one of the world’s leading strabismus surgeons, correcting the eye muscles in cross-eyed children. She was surgeon director of ophthalmology and head of the eye-muscle clinic at the Manhattan Eye, Ear, and Throat Hospital. She completed fellowships at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital and the Universities of Oregon and Iowa.

Awards and Honors

• All-Navy Tennis Championship
• New York State clay-court title, 1964
• Ranked sixth nationally in USTA men’s 35-and-over division, 1972
• National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame inaugural class
• Tennis racquet donated to the Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution

Many people believe the myth that the role of nurse practitioner came about due to a shortage of medical doctors. That’s not quite accurate. It’s true that few doctors cared to practice in rural communities or treat the underprivileged, but Loretta Ford didn’t set out to fill some void in medicine. She aimed to help children and families in need.

To that end, Ford and her nursing team went to help in remote areas. They set up temporary clinics in schools and churches and offered basic health care to the community.

Ford went on train her nurses so they could make independent medical assessments and recommendations. These steps were unprecedented—and even controversial—at the time.

Ford’s actions resulted in the first-ever educational program for advanced nursing and the creation of a new role in medicine: the nurse practitioner. This is a role now integral to medical teams everywhere.

“Now, you will see [it claimed] that the nurse practitioner came into being because there was a physician shortage. Well, I can tell you there was nothing further from my mind than to make up for the deficiencies in medicine. We were interested in the care of children.”

—Loretta Ford

Ford was born in 1920, and began her career as a nurse’s aide at the age of 16. She worked at Middlesex General Hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Ford entered the nursing program when she turned 18 and received her diploma in 1941. She then joined the Visiting Nurse Service of New Brunswick, but soon thereafter, her fiancé was killed in World War II. Moved by this tragedy, Ford joined the US Air Force and served her country for three years.

After the war, Ford attended the University of Colorado on the GI Bill. She achieved her bachelor’s degree in nursing in 1949, a master’s degree in public health in 1951, and a doctorate in education in 1961. During her doctoral studies, Ford became an assistant professor at the University of Colorado School of Nursing in Denver, later advancing to full professor.

Ford teamed with pediatrician Henry K. Silver to create the first pediatric nurse practitioner training program at the University of Colorado Medical Center in 1965.

At a time when doctors did not welcome or appreciate input from nurses, Ford was met with considerable resistance and criticism in the medical community. However, she saw her first 12 nursing students thrive with new interest and enthusiasm. Trusting the program could only benefit and improve patient care, Ford and Silver published these findings and pressed on to create a full educational curriculum for nurse practitioners.

In 1972, Ford became founding dean of the Ģ����ý School of Nursing and director of the nursing service at the University hospital. She bridged these two disciplines to create the “unification model of nursing,” a program that combines education, research, and clinical practice to form a more holistic approach to nursing and health care.

Ford thus succeeded in establishing the nurse practitioner as an integral part of medical teams. Working in conjunction with doctors and other health care providers, nurse practitioners offer medical assessments, diagnostic testing, medication, and support to their patients.

Ford changed the face of medicine, bringing greater respect and appreciation to the critical role of nurses and nurse practitioners and to the nursing profession as a whole.

Awards and Honors

• Living Legend Award from the American Academy of Nursing
• Gustav O. Lienhard Award from the Institute of Medicine National Academy
• Loretta C. Ford Education Wing of Helen Wood Hall
• National Women’s Hall of Fame inductee