Looking to the Future: A Panel Discussion in Honor of Judith Shapiro

Since the beginning of her time as President of Barnard College Judith Shapiro has made her mark on a number of issues with wide ranging implications: women’s education, to be sure, but also academic integrity and freedom, and women’s leadership. She herself has embodied the best qualities of leadership in her guidance of the College and in her willingness to be outspoken on the issues that matter. It is no surprise that she was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2007.

Throughout her presidency, Judith Shapiro has also been a supporter of the Barnard Center for Research on Women. She has ensured that the Center has consistently been able to carry out its mission of promoting inquiry and advancing knowledge about women among scholars, activists and artists. She has also been the host for our most important events, welcoming audiences annually to the Scholar & Feminist Conference and the Helen Pond McIntyre ’48 Lecture, as well as scores of other events. She moderated panels with wit and verve for conferences like “Margaret Mead’s Legacy” in honor of the centenary of Mead’s birth, and “Balancing the Equation,” on women and girls in science and technology.

To show our appreciation for her support and participation, BCRW is taking this opportunity to involve Judith Shapiro in a Center event as a panelist. We have asked her to speak directly to those issues on which she has made her signal contributions, to look back and tell us what she’s learned in her time in the trenches, and more importantly, to look forward to future possibilities for Barnard, for the issues about which she cares so much, and for herself. Joining her in this lively and important discussion will be co-panelists Alison Bernstein, Vice President for Knowledge, Creativity and Freedom at the Ford Foundation and Diana Chapman Walsh, former president of Wellesley College. The evening’s moderator will be Barnard’s own Anna Quindlen, Chair of the Barnard Board of Trustees and columnist for Newsweek magazine.