November
21 , 2003
College
Welcomes Seven New Trustees
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Kavita
N. Ramdas '85
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The Mount Holyoke board of
trustees welcomed seven new trustees, all alumnae, at their
fall meeting October 23–25:
Kavita N. Ramdas '85
2003–2008
Kavita N. Ramdas succeeded the founding president of the Global
Fund for Women as president and CEO in 1996. Ramdas, an innovative
thinker and activist, is recognized as a leader in the fields
of women's rights and philanthropy. Over the past two years,
she received the Choosing to Lead award at the National Women's
Leadership Summit, was named one of the Women Who Could Be President
by the League of Women Voters, and was recognized for Changing
the Face of Philanthropy by the Women's Funding Network.
She is a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute.
Ramdas also serves on the boards of the Rural Development Institute in Seattle,
Washington; the Alan Guttmacher Institute in New York; and Women's Edge
in Washington, DC.
Ramdas is a member of the advisory council to the Ethical
Globalization Initiative, a venture of Mary Robinson, former U.N. high commissioner
for human rights. She has served on the committee on women and development
of the U.N. Economic Commission for Africa and the board of the General Service
Foundation. She is a founding board member and past chair of Asian Americans
and Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy, and former board member of Women and
Philanthropy, affinity groups of the Council on Foundations. Before joining
the Global Fund, Ramdas supported both domestic and international programs
in economic development and population issues as a program officer at the John
D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
She earned her master's degree in international development and public
policy studies from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International
Affairs at Princeton University. Ramdas, who was born and raised in India,
received a bachelor's degree in international relations and political
science from MHC.
Claude du Granrut '48
2003–2008
Claude de Renty du Granrut graduated from the Institute of Political
Science of Paris and spent her junior year at Mount Holyoke .
She has been a high-ranking official in French government and
served as magistrate in the state court of appeal. Currently
she is deputy mayor of Senlis, a
member of the Regional Council of Picardy, a member of the committee
of the regions of the European Union, and, as such, observer
at the Convention for the Future of the European Union.
Susan Beers Betzer '65
2003–2006
Susan B. Betzer is a scientist/scholar, medical doctor, community
leader, Mount Holyoke volunteer, and MHC parent. She graduated
magna cum laude in biological sciences from Mount Holyoke, where
she was a Sarah Williston Scholar, was elected to Phi Beta Kappa
in her junior year, and received the Bernice MacLean Prize, the
Sarah Williston Prize, and the Borden Science Prize as the highest-ranking
science major in her class. She earned her Ph.D. in oceanography
at the University of Rhode Island in l972, did postdoctoral work
at the University of Georgia, and served as a research scholar/scientist
in the marine science department at the University of South Florida
in St. Petersburg.
In 1978, Betzer changed careers, earning an M.D. at the University of Miami.
Since l982, she has been a solo practitioner of family practice and geriatrics
in St. Petersburg and has served as clinical assistant professor in the family
medicine department at the University of South Florida. She serves as a volunteer
at the St. Petersburg Free Clinic. She has been elected by her peers for inclusion
in the Best Doctors in America from 1996 to 2003.
Betzer has been active as a community volunteer on the board of directors of
the Florida Orchestra in Tampa since l983, holding the role of president, membership
on the executive committee since 1988, vice chair of the board of trustees
since 1996, and founder and chair of the audience development committee. She
was a founding trustee and is currently the chair of the Bayfront Health Foundation
Board. For many years she served on several school advisory committees in the
St. Petersburg public schools.
MHC has always been a priority for Betzer. She served as president of her freshman
class and as an alumna has been secretary of the class of 1965, a member of
the alumnae honors research committee, and a longtime dedicated fundraiser.
She has been a class agent/reunion gift caller, cornerstone representative,
regional large gift chair, and a member of the 1982 Clapp renovation steering
committee and the alumnae development committee from 1996 to 2003. Her service
to the Alumnae Association and the College was recognized with an Alumnae Medal
of Honor in 2000. She will serve as president of the Alumnae Association from
2003 to 2006.
Maria A. Cirino '85
2003–2008
Maria Cirino graduated from Mount Holyoke with a A.B. in English.
She has 18 years of experience in high technology leadership
positions, including executive experience in worldwide sales,
marketing, and business development. Currently CEO and chairman
of Guardent, Cirino previously served as a member of the executive
teams at Shiva Corporation (now Intel Corporation) and i-Cube,
Inc. (now Razorfish, Inc.).
Regarded as a leader in the industry, Cirino is a frequent speaker
at industry conferences and has been featured throughout industry
and business media. Cirino sits on the board of directors for
Keane, the Massachusetts Software & Internet
Council, and the board of governors for the Entrepreneurs Foundation of New
England. Additionally, Cirino has received many industry honors: she was
named one of the 100 most powerful women in Boston by Boston
Magazine, one of the top 25 women in information security by
Information Security magazine, one of the area's top "40
under 40" technology executives by
the Boston Business Journal, and was inducted by Women's
Business magazine
into the Women's Business Hall of Fame.
In 2001 Upside magazine placed Cirino on its Women in Technology List, and
Mass High Tech presented her with the Mass High Tech All Star Award. In 2002,
Ernst & Young selected Cirino as its Entrepreneur of the Year for Business
Services. The Commonwealth Institute and Babson College have also chosen
Guardent as one of the Top 100 Woman-Led Businesses in Massachusetts.
Melani S. Cheers '02
2003–2006
Melani Cheers graduated magna cum laude from MHC with dual degrees
in anthropology and biology. While at the College, she served
as the director of the medical emergency response team, a student
athletic trainer, hall president, and member of the alcohol and
drug advisory committee. In 2002, she was awarded the Helen Warren
Smith Award for her commitment to the College community. Currently,
Cheers resides in Pittsburgh and works as a developmental biology
research assistant at Carnegie Mellon University. She is active
with the MHC club of Pittsburgh and volunteers regularly at the
Magee Women's Hospital.
Nancy J. Drake '73
2003–2008
Nancy Drake graduated from Mount Holyoke cum laude in biochemistry
in 1973. She received her M.A. from Rice University in biochemistry
in 1975. She has spent her career in the development of medical
products for the treatment of cardiovascular disease, ophthalmic
conditions, wound healing, and autoimmune diseases. In her current
capacity, she is vice president of operations and regulatory
affairs at Islet Technology, Inc., a development stage company
working on a cure for Type 1 diabetes.
She was president, secretary, and admissions representative for the MHC Cleveland
club, served as reunion gift cochair, head class agent, and cornerstone chair,
and is currently president of her class. She was a member and then chair of
the alumnae development committee, member of the Alumnae Association board
of directors, and member of the campaign steering committee. She was elected
to the board of trustees by the alumnae.
Drake was the recipient of the Alumnae Medal of Honor in 1998 and the President's
Award from St. Jude Medical, Inc., in 1992. She has served as a board member
of the Upward Bound Math and Science Program in St. Paul, Minnesota, and was
chair of the steering committee for the Endowment of the Biomedical Engineering
Institute at the University of Minnesota. She is currently on the advisory
board of the Biomedical Engineering Institute, a member of the Board of Islet
Technology, Inc., and Islet Technology, GMBH.
Carole Geary Schneider '67
2003–2008
Carol Geary Schneider has been president of the Association of
American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) since 1998. AAC&U
is the leading national organization devoted to advancing and
strengthening undergraduate liberal education. Since becoming
president of AAC&U, Schneider has initiated a major effort
to rethink the broad aims of a twenty-first century college education
so that liberal learning becomes a framework for the entire educational
experience, whatever a student's choice of major and career.
Schneider is a magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa graduate of MHC with a bachelor's
degree in history. She studied at the University of London's Institute
for Historical Research and earned a Ph.D. in history from Harvard University.
She has taught at the University of Chicago, and DePaul, Chicago State, and
Boston universities.
Schneider has published extensively on all the major areas of her educational
work. Her most recent articles include: "Core Missions and Civic Responsibility:
Toward the Engaged Academy," in Civic Responsibility
and Higher Education (Thomas Ehrlich, ed., American Council on Education/Oryx Press Series on Higher
Education, 2000); "From Diversity to Engaging Difference" in Knowledge,
Identity, and Curriculum Transformation in Africa (ed. Nico Cloete, Mashew
Miller, Longman, South Africa, 1997); and, with Lee Knefelkamp, "Education
for a World Lived in Common with Others," in Education
and Democracy: Re-Imagining Liberal Learning in America (New York: The College Board, 1997).
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