Alumnae Association Awards

2023 Distinguished Alumna Award

Barbara Tiane Mitchell-Gordon 1973 (posthumous)

Tiane's sister, Minerva Mitchell '78, accepted the award on her behalf

Fifty years ago, among the Class of 1973 carrying the Daisy Chain were the first two African American students to graduate from St. Catherine’s, one of whom was Barbara Tiane Mitchell-Gordon. Sadly, after a life distinguished by professional achievement and community contributions in diversity and inclusivity in education, employment, and business, Tiane passed away in 2020 from cancer.  We were honored to have Tiane’s sister, Minerva Mitchell ’78,  accept the 2023 Distinguished Alumna Award on behalf of Tiane Mitchell-Gordon.  
  
A boarder from North Carolina, Tiane attended St. Catherine’s from 10th-12th grade.  An excellent student, she went on to Wesleyan University, graduating with honors in 1977 followed by post-graduate studies at Trinity College (USA), She continued professional development through the University of Michigan Ross School of Business Executive Education and American Management Association.
 
Tiane’s long career in human resources began at Newfield Publications, publisher of Weekly Reader, and at Aetna Life & Casualty. Subsequently she served as the Diversity Expert-in-Residence for both East Carolina University and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. She also served on the board of Women in Community Service (WICS), a national nonprofit organization whose goal is to reduce the number of women and children living in poverty by promoting economic independence.
 
A fifteen-year career at AOL culminated in her appointment as Senior Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer, heading the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, where she managed initiatives to foster inclusive attitudes and opportunities among all employees. Tiane also served as chair of AOL's Diversity Leadership Action Team, dedicated to shaping an AOL culture that respects diversity and promotes inclusion in the workplace as well as in the marketplace. The Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) named her one of the 100 Global Thought Leaders in Diversity & Inclusion. Upon leaving AOL, Tiane founded Square One Consulting, focused on the impact of diversity and inclusion on human resources management, organizational development and strategy formulation.
 
In the decades following graduation, Tiane maintained her ties with St. Catherine’s, serving as a class correspondent, assisting with Reunions, speaking at Career Day and serving on the Board of Governors. In the latter role, her guidance and input led to the hiring of the School’s first Director of Diversity.  A theater lover, Tiane also served on the board of directors of a D.C.-area playwrights collective, The Welders, an alternative platform for play development and production.  Tiane positively touched many lives. In an interview, another Human Resources professional named her as the most important mentor in their career, aside from their own father.  We are proud to name Tiane Mitchell-Gordon as the 2023 Distinguished Alumna Award recipient.


Distinguished Alumna Award

The Distinguished Alumna Award was established by the Ellett-St. Catherine’s Alumnae Association in 1969 to honor, annually, an alumna who has helped to make her city, state or world a better place by giving of her talents in the true spirit of the school motto: What we keep, we lose; only what we give remains our own. The award is intended to honor a St. Catherine’s alumna who has distinguished herself in her field, either as a professional or as a community volunteer, and who is an outstanding example of what one can achieve when grounded in the St. Catherine’s experience.  

From suffragists, dramatists, artists and writers to preservationists, ministers, lawyers, doctors and entrepreneurs, St. Catherine’s distinguished alumnae from every decade have exemplified the school motto through their good works and generous spirit around the world.


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  • Past Recipients of the Distinguished Alumna Award

    2023
    Barbara Tiane Mitchell-Gordon 1973 (posthumous)

    2022
    Audrey Taylor Gonzalez 1957

    2021
    Catherine Currin Hammond 1971

    2020
    Nell Cox 1955

    2019
    Katherine Swtiz 1989

    2018
    Yiota Souras 1988

    2017
    Jane Hyde Williams 1967

    2016
    Louise Jenkins Maybank 1956

    2015

    Margaret "Mimsy" Wood Jones 1955
    Anne "Panny" Gregory Rhodes 1960

    2014
    Kimberly Lichtenberg 1994
    Katherine Short Clarke 1949

    2013
    Meridith Leigh Rentz 1988

    2012 
    Helen Turner Murphy 1952
    Mary Zayde (“Bucci”) Rennolds Zeugner 1977

    2011
    Geline Bowman Williams 1941
    Liz Gilbert 1986

    2010
    Ann Reeves Reed 1950

    2009

    Louise Lewis Foster 1959
    Elizabeth McMillan Hagood 1979

    2008
    Dina Farley Foster 1983

    2007
    Sally Womack Hruska 1957
    Betty Baugh Harrison 1977

    2006
    Sue Walden Wieland 1956

    2005
    Frances Johnson Lee-Vandell 1960

    2004
    Kate Harwood Gooch 1959
    Nathalie Ward 1969

    2003 
    Janet Patton Lewis 1938
    Dorothy Robertson Parrish 1938

    2002
    Anne Stanley Chatham 1937

    2001
    Betty Bowe Wallace Hendrix 1946
    Sally James Michel 1956

    2000
    Penny Baldwin Williams 1955

    1999
    Gene Davidson Dahmen 1959
    Gene Brumfield Edmunds 1959

    1998
    Ada Gaye Gregory 1988

    1997
    Margaret Davison Block 1950

    1996
    Eliza Scott Nevin 1966

    1995
    Pamela Tucker 1966

    1994
    Minnie Bassett Lane 1949
    Jane Bassett Spilman 1949

    1992
    Ella-Prince Trimmer Knox 1952

    1991
    Pocahontas Wight Edmunds 1921

    1988
    Anne Whitfield Kenny 1951

    1987
    Jean Staples Showalter 1930
    Margaret Ferguson Gibson 1962
    Caroline Armistead Riely 1962

    1984
    Viola Hubbard Woolfolk 1939

    1983
    Mary Tyler Freeman Cheek 1933

    1975
    Lee Smith 1963
    Elizabeth Davenport Hayter 1948
    Carolyn Buhrman Nettleton 1941

    1974
    Molly Haskell 1957
    Carolyn McCue Osteen 1960
    Mary Allen McCue (Honorary 1959)

    1973
    Fanny Graves Crenshaw 1908
    Annie Leigh Hobson Broughton 1926
    Cynthia Ann Billings 1950

    1972
    Mary Caperton Bingham 1923
    Florence Turner McCullough 1940
    Vienna Cobb Anderson 1953

    1971
    Anna Hill Johnstone Robinson 1930
    Fortunata Sydnor Trapnell Vanderschmidt 1947
    Katharine Kniskern Mather 1932

    1970
    Frances Laughlin Wadsworth 1927
    Elinor Fry Phillips 1920
    Edith O’Keefe Susong 1909
    Nancy Langhorne Cone 1944

    1969
    Adele Clark 1901
    Mary Wingfield Scott 1913
    Natalie McFaden Blanton 1913
    Emma Gray White Trigg 1909

2023 Distinguished Young Alumna Award

Vaughan Gallins Gilmore 2003

Vaughan Gallins Gilmore ’03 is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor, and Texas State Board of Social Worker Examiners Board-Approved Supervisor. 

Vaughan was a 4-year boarder at St. Catherine’s, where she was involved in activities ranging from theatre, student activities and Altar Guild to serving as Student Ambassador co-head and Boarding Prefect.  

With a 2007 bachelor’s in social work from Texas Christian University and a 2009 master’s in social work from the University of Texas at Arlington, Vaughan has specialized training in treating co-occurring addictive and mental health disorders for adults and adolescents. She has deep experience in group, individual, and family therapy interventions, and provides supervision, training, consultation, and presentations on a range of topics related to the assessment and treatment of substance use disorders for behavioral health and medical professionals.

As Director of Addiction and Recovery Services at Houston’s Menninger Clinic, one of the top-ranked psychiatric hospitals in the country, Vaughan led a team focused on providing integrated treatment and recovery support services for co-occurring psychiatric and addictive disorders. 
Currently Vaughan is Chief Clinical Officer at Santa Maria Hostel, one of Texas’ largest multi-site residential and outpatient substance use disorder treatment centers for women. Santa Maria provides critical and life changing services for low-income and uninsured women age 18 and above and their children.  These women face many challenges to their recovery, including histories of trauma, criminal justice and Children’s Protective Services involvement, and homelessness or housing instability. Santa Maria supports the entire family on their recovery journey using a Trauma Informed Care model. As a leader she has experience with clinical and staff supervision, program evaluation and development, multi-site management, implementing research outcome measures, and quality and training initiatives. Her professional interests include expanding access to recovery pathways and reducing stigma associated with addictive disorders. 

Millie Graham Taylor ’03 shares, “Thinking back to our high school years, not only were Vaughan and I friends and roommates, but she always made me and others feel valued and important.  I always felt like I could be my true self around her and I'm so thankful for those years.  I'm not surprised that she has continued into a career based on relationships that encourage people to feel empowered and value themselves.”  
A passionate crusader focused on empowering others, we are delighted to present the 2023 Distinguished Young Alumna award to Vaughan Gallins Gilmore.


Distinguished Young Alumna Award

In honor of St. Catherine's 125th Anniversary, the Distinguished Young Alumna Award was established by the Alumnae Association to recognize an alumna who is celebrating a 20th reunion or younger. The award is given to an alumna who has demonstrated distinction through her volunteer work or through her leadership, achievements and accomplishments in her career or community.


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  • Past Recipients of the Young Alumna Award

    2023
    Vaughan Gallins Gilmore 2003

    2022
    Elaine Minor 2002

    2021
    Anna Woodmansee 2011

    2020
    Elizabeth Redford 2005

    2019
    Julia Warren 2014

    2018
    Holly Ziskal Habimana 1998

    2017

    Darley C. Newman 1997

    2016
    Carrie D. Wortham 2008 (awarded posthumously)

Past Recipients of The Adelaide Rawles Goolsby Flippen '30 Outstanding Service Award

Helen Hamilton Horsley '83

Seldom does someone combine seamlessly the skills of a leader with a truly gentle, modest spirit. Helen is that person.  Helen has been a steadfast and enthusiastic volunteer, leader and cheerleader for St. Catherine’s.  She was a 13-year day student, and is a parent to three alumnae - Selina (class of 2013), and twins Margaret and Lily (class of 2016). Her service to the school, always joyously given, includes helping with her class Reunions and year upon year making calls for Annual Giving.  Given her aptitude for drawing people closer and getting the job done, she was invited to join the Richmond Alumnae Board and subsequently the Ellett-National Alumnae Board, where she tackled every duty as if there was nothing she would rather do.  Helen was a member of the Board of Governors from 2016-2022, serving as Chair of the Development Committee. With a passion for and understanding of the importance of Health and Wellness for our School, Helen  was instrumental in pushing these initiatives while she was on the Board.  

She’s been a Daisy Days Volunteer (following in the footsteps of her mother, who co-chaired the first Daisy Days in the spring of 1977); participated with her family in the "Adopt-a-Boarder" Program; served as an Athletic Booster; a charter member of the planned giving group, The Arcade Society; a member of the 2016 Senior Parent Committee; she served on two campaign committees- the first in 2013, and most recently as the Chair of the largest capital Campaign in the School’s history, Unleashing Creativity, which has magnificently reimagined the southern third of campus, including Endeavour Hall where this award was conferred.  

Although the list is long, it is the actions, not the titles, that set Helen apart. She never asks other volunteers to do anything she doesn’t do herself.  She rolls up her sleeves and gets to work.  She surprises members of the faculty and staff with words of support, and she pops in with treats or flowers from her garden to brighten their day. Helen’s 40th Reunion Weekend was the perfect time to recognize her for her decades of outstanding service to our School. Thank you to Helen for her support and love of St. Catherine’s.


The Adelaide Rawles Goolsby Flippen '30 Outstanding Service Award

The Adelaide Rawles Goolsby Flippen '30 Outstanding Service Award was created in 1994 to honor that individual (not necessarily an alumna) who shows an outstanding level of commitment and service to St. Catherine's School. The recipient will have spent a great deal of productive time, energy and thought in helping the school on a particular project or will have demonstrated continuing dedication to St. Catherine's over many years. This award will probably not be given to a present school employee. The presentation of the award normally takes place at Graduation. 

List of 1 items.

  • Past Recipients of The Adelaide Rawles Goolsby Flippen '30 Outstanding Service Award

    2023
    Helen Hamilton Horsley 1983

    2022
    Tyler Bird Paul 1977

    2021
    Sue Baldwin

    2020
    Anne Howell McElroy 1978

    2019
    Jean Hill Davenport 1958

    2018
    Chris Williams

    2017
    Missy Gullquist

    2016
    Dee Dee Butler Sutton 1976

    2015

    Lucy Stockdell

    2014
    Jean Cameron Grainger 1966

    2013

    Katherine MacNaughton Whitney 1975

    2012

    Elizabeth Cabell Jennings 1981

    2011
    Margaret and Dave Bloor

    2010
    Lang and Molly Gayle Meem 1973

    2009
    Jackie Wilkins

    2008    
    Cal and George Jennison

    2007

    Gussie Johns Bannard 1973

    2006
    Susan Pfefferkorn 1973

    2005
    Annabel Morgan Edge 1964

    2004
    Bill Armstrong

    2003
    Mert Jones

    2002
    Jack Kenny

    2001
    Virginia Jones

    2000    
    Frances Brown
    Peggy Ross

    1999    
    Wesley Wright, Jr.

    1998
    Mason New (awarded posthumously)

    1997
    Dixon Christian

    1996
    Ted Price

    1995
    Betty Molster

    1994    
    Cabell Goolsby West 1964
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