HARRISBURG, Pa., Oct. 21 — Governor Edward G. Rendell and First Lady Judge Marjorie O. Rendell today recognized the accomplishments of eight Distinguished Daughters of Pennsylvania and praised their contributions to a variety of fields.

“This year’s Distinguished Daughters of Pennsylvania have done extraordinary work in many different capacities,” said Governor Rendell. “Their contributions to Pennsylvania and the nation have benefited everything from academics to athletics, the arts to the military, as well as businesses and communities. I am grateful for the work that these women have done on our behalf to strengthen our state and the quality of life for so many residents.”

“It is a privilege to honor the dedication and commitment of these extraordinary women of Pennsylvania,” said Judge Rendell. “Their legacy of leadership is making a difference across the state.”

The following were honored as Distinguished Daughters: Juliet J. Goodfriend, Penn Valley; Judith R. Shapiro, Rosemont; Judith Joy Ross, Bethlehem; Eva Tansky Blum, Toi Derricotte and Jacqueline C. Morby, all of Pittsburgh; C. Vivian Stringer, Princeton, NJ; and Veronica Zasadni Froman, San Diego, CA.

To be selected as a Distinguished Daughter, women must be nominated by organizations within the state for accomplishments of statewide or national importance. Medals and citations are presented to honorees at the Governor’s Residence in Harrisburg.

The Distinguished Daughters of Pennsylvania awards began in 1949 as a way to recognize influential women for their leadership, distinguished service, and contributions to the state through their professional and/or volunteer service. To date, 450 women have received the award and recognition.

Editor’s Note: The following is a detailed list of this year’s Distinguished Daughters of Pennsylvania.

.         Jacqueline Collins Morby, of Pittsburgh, is an innovator in the worlds of business and philanthropy. In 1988 Morby moved to Pittsburgh to open an office for TA Associates, a Boston-based private equity firm. In 2004 Morby co-founded the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund which garnered Time Magazine and CNN

‘s designation in 2008 as one of the “Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs” in the world for its Alzheimer’s Genome Project. A world traveler, Jacqui chairs the board of Population Action International.

.         Judith Joy Ross, of Hazelton, PA, is an internationally exhibited photographer known for her penetrating portraits of persons from all walks of life. Her most famous work to date is a collection of portraits, called “Portraits of the Hazleton Public Schools.” The volume focuses on one of Ross’s most personal series — 67 portraits of students at public schools from her hometown of Hazleton. Between 1992 and 1994, Ross returned to the schools of her youth as a way of revisiting the experience of growing up. Shot with an 8 x 10-inch view camera, the photographs in Portraits are unpretentious and revealing in their psychological insight. They reveal the universally wonderful and terrifying rite of passage of going to school.

.         Judith Shapiro, of Rosemont, PA and New York City, is a distinguished scholar and academician. Shapiro is a cultural anthropologist who served as President of Barnard College from 1994 to 2008. Prior t that, she was o the faculty o the University o Chicago and Bryn Mawr, where she became the college’s chief academic officer. She has been President o the American Ethnological Society and the Philadelphia Anthropological Society.

.         Juliet Goodfriend, of Penn Valley, PA, is the retired founder and President of Strategic Marketing Corporation, a global custom marketing research and consulting firm to the pharmaceutical industry. She created, and is president of Bryn Mawr Film Institute, the restored historic movie theater and film education center which serves 6000 members and provides a year-round program of movies and film courses for students of all ages. Her experience inspired her to help create NELI, the nonprofit executive leadership program at Bryn Mawr College. Goodfriend continues to address national audiences and undergraduates around the country as a Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow.

.         Veronica (Ronne) Froman, born in Uniontown, PA, currently resides in San Diego, CA. A graduate of Seton Hill University, she served in the United States Navy for 31 years and was in charge of naval bases and stations around the world. Froman retired from the Navy in 2001 with the rank of Rear Admiral. After retirement, Froman was instrumental in restoring confidence in the floundering local chapter of the American Red Cross after the 2003 southern California wildfires. She served as chief of business

operations for the San Diego Unified School District and in 2005 became the first chief operating officer for the city of San Diego. In 2007 she accepted another leadership position as senior vice president for the energy group of General Atomics.

.         Eva Tansky Blum, of Pittsburgh, is the Senior Vice President, Director of Community affairs, and chair and President of the PNC foundation, where she makes a significant impact improving the lives of children, their families, and ultimately, their communities. Blum directs the company’s philanthropic programs, including PNC Grow Up Great, a ten-year, $100 mill

ion program to support quality early childhood education. Blum supports her alma mater, University of Pittsburgh, by serving on the Executive and Institutional Advancement Committees of the Board of Trustees, co-chairs, the University’s $2 billion capital campaign and was named Distinguished Alumna in 2007 and Distinguished Law Alumna in 2008.

.         Toi Derricotte, of Pittsburgh, is a professor in the Department of English at the University of Pittsburgh, and has published four books of poems, including Tender, winner of the prestigious Paterson Poetry Prize, and a memoir The Black Notebooks, which received The Anisfield-Wolf Award and was a New York Times notable book of the year. She has won major awards from the Rockefeller Foundation, Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment of the Arts, Pushcart Prizes, the Poetry Society of America and the University of Pittsburgh. Toi is co-founder and director of Cave Canem, committed to the discovery and cultivation of new voices in African-American poetry.

.         C. Vivian Stringer, of Princeton, NJ, learned a valuable lesson from her parents growing up in northwestern Pennsylvania: “Work hard, don’t look for excuses – you can achieve anything.” Stringer is the first coach to take three schools to the NCAA Final Four, the historically black college Cheyney State in 1982, University of Iowa in 1993 and the Rutgers University’s Scarlet Knights twice, totaling more than 800 victories. Stringer and the 2007 Rutgers squad captured the nation’s respect when faced with the disparaging comments of a radio “shock jock.” Stringer was inducted into the coveted Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on September 11, 2009.