• Most Influential: Dr. Cappelli
• IEEE Fellow: Dr. Daniilidis
• Woman of Distinction: Dr. Hendricks
• Best Book: Dr. Horowitz
• Civil Libertarian: Professor Kreimer

• NSF Grant: Dr. Jacobs
• Grawemeyer Award: Dr. Savage
• Penn Creative Spirit Award: Catherine Marshall
• Shepherd of Peace: Dr. Sokoloff

Dr. Joan C. Hendricks, the Gilbert S. Kahn Dean of Veterinary Medicine, was honored as one of the Philadelphia Business Journal’s 2011 Women of Distinction.

In total, 26 women were selected from more than 300 nominations. Selected by a panel of 12 independent judges, the women were chosen based on their accomplishments, community involvement and professional successes.

Women honored in addition to Dean Hendricks include fellow Penn alumnae, Philadelphia’s First Lady Lisa Nutter, GFA’92; Marilyn Kutler, C’71, L’74; and Patricia Woody, ChE’82. Dr. Hendricks earned her VMD and PhD from Penn in 1979 and 1980, respectively.

Dr. Barbara Savage, Geraldine R. Segal Professor of American Social Thought and Professor of History in the department of history in SAS, has won the Grawemeyer Award for the ideas set forth in her book Your Spirits Walk Beside Us: The Politics of Black Religion, published in 2008 by Harvard University Press. The annual award carries a $100,000 prize.

Susan Garrett, director of the Grawemeyer Award in Religion, hailed the book for introducing important new perspectives on the study of black religion and the political role of African-American churches.

“Besides explaining why it is misleading to speak of ‘the black church’ given the enormous diversity among African-American congregations, Savage challenges the popular belief that black churches have been prophetic and politically active throughout history,” Ms. Garrett said.

Dr. Savage called the Grawemeyer Award significant because it recognizes the importance of African-American religion, its place in history and its relationship to American politics.  

“It vindicates my interest in the power of African-American history and religion and is a testament to the ideas and work of black intellectuals and religious leaders,” she said.

Your Spirits Walk Beside Us traces the persistent debate among African-Americans about the public responsibility of black churches and the place of black religion in black political struggle by profiling the work of African-American religious leaders and politicians and concludes with a chapter on the controversy that erupted between then-presidential candidate Barack Obama and his pastor, Jeremiah Wright.

The University of Louisville presents four Grawemeyer Awards each year for outstanding works in music composition, world order, psychology and education. The University and Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary jointly give a fifth award in religion.

When former University of Pennsylvania professor Catherine “Kaki” Marshall saw the efforts major Canadian cities make each year to put on quality theater festivals for children, she decided that needed to happen here.

In 1985 it did, thanks to her efforts as assistant director at Penn’s Annenberg Center for Performing Arts. The University hosted the inaugural Philadelphia International Children’s Festival, the oldest and one of the largest in the country.

“It was such a wake-up call,” said Ms. Marshall said in an interview. “It’s so necessary for a culture to have children exposed to the best in arts.”

To establish the first festival, Ms. Marshall said she secured partial funding from the late Walter Annenberg, a long-time benefactor of Penn programs. He and his late wife, Leonore, came to opening night.

For the festival and a lifelong career in theater arts, Ms. Marshall, a Penn alumna, received the Penn Creative Spirit Award at the 77th Annual Alumni Award of Merit Gala, on November 4.

Established as part of Penn’s efforts to promote arts and culture offerings, the Creative Spirit Award recognizes Penn alumni who have shown life-long commitment to the arts through outstanding personal achievements and/or philanthropic support.   

“We chose Kaki because of the significant effect she has had on the theater program at Penn,” said Sheila Raman, director of development for arts and culture in the Office of Development and Alumni Relations. “Generations of Penn students who studied or performed in the theater programs have been influenced by her.” 

Ms. Marshall’s life at Penn began long before her role as a theater arts professor and producer.  She graduated in 1945 from Penn’s College for Women and married Wharton graduate Joe Marshall. Her first job at Penn was assistant director of Penn Players, which encompassed all student theater except Mask and Wig. After time off to raise her family of six children, including two Penn alumni, she was asked to return to the Annenberg Center, and then, with a master’s degree from Columbia University, she was invited to teach in the theater major, then housed in the English department. 

She left Annenberg in 1989 and continued to teach theater arts through the early 1990s. But her involvement in theater didn’t end. She is a founding board member of Interact and has served on the boards of the Philadelphia Young Playwrights, Mum Puppet Theatre, People’s Light & Theater as well as Big Brothers/Big Sisters. She has been honored by the Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia and with a Barrymore Lifetime Achievement Award.