Alpha Delta Kappa

Alpha Delta Kappa International Women of Distinction are international honorary members of the organization, honored for their outstanding contributions to the fields of education, humanities, sciences or arts on a national or international level.

At each International Convention, the delegates vote on a selection of qualified women who have been selected from the names submitted to the International Woman of Distinction Committee for the Woman of Distinction Award.

There are 49 Alpha Delta Kappa International Women of Distinction. There are six First Ladies: Lady Bird Johnson, Pat Nixon, Rosalynn Carter, Nancy Reagan, Barbara Bush and Laura Bush. There is one Supreme Court Justice: Sandra Day O'Connor. There is one religious figure who is on the "fast track" to sainthood, Mother Teresa. There is a movie actress and diplomat: Shirley Temple Black; and a movie and TV actress: Dale Evans Rogers. There are two opera singers: Marguerite Piazza and Beverly Sills; and an opera director and conductor: Sarah Caldwell.

There are leaders of nations: Indira Gandhi and Wilma Mankiller (the Cherokee Nation). There are authors: Pearl Buck, Cleo Dawson and Dorothy Clarke Wilson. There are journalists: Betty Jaycox and Marian Ash. There are astronauts: Sally Ride and Margaret Rhea Seddon. There is an anthropologist: Margaret Mead.

Several are in countries outside of the USA: Dona Felisa Rincon de Gautier, Margaret Hyndman, Edna Manley, Mother Teresa, Madame Indira Gandhi, Hon. Mme. Pauline Vanier and Dr. Evangelina Villegas. There is a woman who resides in San Diego (site of the 2007 International Convention): Dr. Leila Tossas de Irizarry (Professor Emeritus of Elementary Education, San Diego State University).

There are doctors: Audrey Evans, Priscilla White; and scientists: Gertrude Elion (Nobel Prize, 1988) and Dr. Evangelina Villegas (Millenium World Food Prize Laureate); and public servants: Esther Peterson, Dixy Lee Ray and Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper.

Below is a listing of all Alpha Delta Kappa Women of Distinction. Click on the active links to learn more about each. Each link represents a starting point only — please search further for more information about each of these outstanding women! If you have a link to suggest for any of the Women of Distinction, please e-mail it to International Headquarters, headquarters@alphadeltakappa.org to the attention of the communications specialist.

1959: Dr. Margaret Blair Johnstone

1961: Dr. Cleo Dawson Smith

1961: Muriel Monsell Bremner

1963: Dr. Leila Tossas

1963: Dr. Ruth Strang

1963: Dr. Susan B. Riley

1965: Emma Belle Sweet

1965: Sen. Maurine B. Neuberger

1965: Doña Felisa Rincon de Gautier

1967: Betty Jaycox

1967: Dr. Esther Peterson

1967: Dr. Dixy Lee Ray