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Lindalyn Adams to receive 5th Annual Virginia Chandler Dykes
Leadership Award on February 1, 2007
Presented by
Texas Woman’s University, award honors Dallas leaders
with a lifelong commitment to improving the quality of life
in the community and to furthering the importance of education
10/26/06
DALLAS —
Long-time Dallas resident and civic volunteer Lindalyn Adams
will receive Texas Woman’s University’s Fifth
Annual Virginia Chandler Dykes Leadership Award on Thursday,
Feb. 1, 2007, at noon, at the Dallas Country Club, 4100 Beverly
Dr. Presenting Sponsors are Bank of Texas and Bank of Texas
Private Bank.
Established in
2002, the Virginia Chandler Dykes Leadership Award is given
annually to Dallas leaders with a lifelong commitment to improving
the quality of life in the community and to furthering the
importance of education. The award recognizes the life work
of Virginia Chandler Dykes as an outstanding health care provider,
whose professional and civic achievements represent a lifetime
committed to helping others. Past award recipients are Dr.
and Mrs. Kern Wildenthal, 2006; Gretchen Minyard Williams
and J.L. “Sonny” Williams, 2005; Geraldine “Tincy”
Miller, 2004; and Susan and Charles Cooper, 2003.
“Texas Woman’s
University is so pleased to honor such an outstanding individual
whose leadership and steadfast commitment to numerous civic,
historical, and educational initiatives have made a lasting
impact on this community and beyond,” said TWU Chancellor
and President Dr. Ann Stuart, who will present the award.
Lindalyn Adams
is well known for her passion for history and preservation
and has received numerous awards and honors for her work in
this area. As the founding president of the Sixth Floor Museum,
Adams’ tireless efforts over a 13-year period resulted
in this major historical exhibition, which attracts 450,000
visitors annually. At the time, Adams served as Chairman of
the Dallas Historical Commission, which began the effort to
establish the exhibit. She was instrumental in the establishment
of the Dallas County Historical Foundation, which was created
to raise funds and to oversee its operations, and she served
as its chairman. She is currently Chairman Emerita of the
Sixth Floor Museum.
She has been the
champion of The Old Red Courthouse since she dedicated its
Texas Historical Marker in 1978. She is Honorary Life Trustee
of Dallas Heritage Village, a Life Trustee of the Dallas Historical
Society, and an Advisory Trustee of Children’s Medical
Center. Currently she serves on numerous
community boards. Adams has chaired the Crystal Charity Ball,
the Junior League of Dallas Ball, the
Neiman Marcus Fortnight, the Linz Award Luncheon, the Spirit
of Generations Luncheon, and the Dallas County Historical
Commission, where under her leadership, the Dallas Commission
led the state in the record number of awards from the Texas
Historical Commission. She has also been president of many
organizations including the SMU Alumni Board, the Dallas Opera
Woman’s Board, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra League,
Dallas County Heritage Society's Old City Park, The Dallas
Historical Society, Friends of Fair Park, and the Senior Source.
She was one of the three founders of La Fiesta de las Seis
Banderas benefiting the Park Cities and the Highland Park
School District.
As the spouse of
the late Reuben H. Adams, Jr., M.D., the long-time chief of
the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Baylor University
Medical Center, Lindalyn Adams was very involved in the medical
community, serving as president of the Dallas County Medical
Society Alliance and others. Today as Development Officer
at Baylor Health Care System Foundation, Adams coordinates
Baylor Health Care System Foundation’s “Celebrating
Women Luncheon,” which under her leadership, has grown
from netting $125,000 in 2000 to netting over $1.3 million
in 2006, to benefit breast cancer research.
Her tireless efforts on behalf of the community have garnered
her prestigious recognition including the Linz Award, Southern
Methodist University's Distinguished Alumni Award and the
Distinguished Alumni Award of Highland Park High School. Adams
is the second of only three to date to receive the prestigious
Junior League of Dallas’ Lifetime Achievement Award,
an award given only every five years to a sustaining member
for outstanding service to the community. Adams also received
the Ruth Lester Award of the Texas Historical Commission,
the highest award given by the Commission. Additionally she
received the award for Outstanding County Historical Commission
Chairman in Texas three times. She was honored by the Texas
Association of Museums with its President’s award and
the University of Texas American History Center Ima Hogg Award
for historic preservation. She was named Volunteer Fundraiser
of the Year in Dallas by National Association of Fundraisers.
She also received the Neiman Marcus Downtown Dallas Renaissance
Award. The Dallas Historical Society, the Dallas County Heritage
Society and Preservation Dallas all have given her major awards.
“The Virginia
Chandler Dykes Leadership Award is very meaningful to me,”
said Lindalyn Adams. “TWU has an incredible outreach
in North Texas and around the globe with all of its graduates.
It is very exhilarating to think about all that TWU has accomplished
and to be a part of a program that is providing scholarships
to further education.”
This award’s
namesake, Virginia Chandler Dykes, has spent a lifetime committed
to helping others through her work as a health care provider
and numerous civic activities. She is known internationally
for her work in occupational therapy. Locally, she is known
for her leadership in many cultural and charitable organizations.
In 2005 she was appointed by Gov. Rick Perry to serve on the
Texas Woman’s University Board of Regents.
“We are so
very honored to have Lindalyn accept this award,” said
Virginia Chandler Dykes. “It is difficult to think of
an individual who has accomplished more or exhibited greater
passion and commitment to such important causes, impacting
the community for years to come.”
Mrs. Dykes completed
the graduate occupational therapy program at TWU in 1954 after
earning her bachelor of arts in art and psychology from Southern
Methodist University. She was the director of the Occupational
and Recreational Therapy Department at Baylor University Medical
Center for 25 years. She also founded the Boomerang Club,
the first support group for stroke patients and their families.
In 2002, she established The Virginia Chandler Dykes endowed
scholarship fund at TWU for occupational therapy students,
which has been extended this year to honor students in all
four colleges: Claudette Fette, College of Health Sciences
(Occupational Therapy); Debbie A. Arbique, BS, RN, CEN, DABFN,
Nursing; Annette Torres Elias, Professional Education (COPE),
and Jana Perez, Arts and Sciences. Mrs. Dykes and her husband
Roland also helped to establish the Fanny B. Vanderkooi Endowed
Lectureship for the School of Occupational Therapy at TWU,
which has grown to be one of the premier continuing education
offerings in Texas. She is also well known for her leadership
in organizations such as The Dallas Opera, the Dallas Arboretum’s
Women’s Council and the Fort Worth Opera.
“I am so
very grateful for Virginia’s efforts in establishing
this endowment,” added Adams. “We must take note
of what these students are accomplishing with the help of
these scholarships. They will be invaluable to our community.”
The 2007 Virginia
Chandler Dykes Leadership Award Luncheon Advisory Committee
members are: Ebby Halliday Acers, Joel Allison, Mrs. Lawrence
S. Barzune, April Box, Sis Carr, Howard Chase, Louise Gartner,
Suzy Gekiere, Doug Hawthorne, Caroline Rose Hunt, and Mr.
and Mrs. Martin J. Weiland.
“When this
award first began, our efforts were very small, but now with
the generous help of our advisory committee and the past recipients
who have been so dedicated, it has grown tremendously,”
added Dykes.“We
are so pleased to be offering four different scholarships
this year, one to each of the colleges.”
For more information, contact TWU Development Officer Sheila
Marlow, at 940-898-3865 or smarlow@mail.twu.edu.
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Texas Woman’s
University occupies a notable position in higher education
as the nation’s largest university primarily for women.
Its campuses in Denton, Dallas and Houston are joined by an
e-learning campus that offers innovative online degree programs
in business, education and general studies. Seven consecutive
semesters of enrollment growth have produced a record enrollment
of 11,831. TWU serves the citizens of Texas in a number of
important ways, including: producing more new nurses and health
care professionals than any other university in Texas, helping
ease the teacher shortage by placing highly qualified professionals
where they’re needed most – in the classroom,
offering a liberal arts-based curriculum that prepares students
for success in an increasingly global world and conducting
research that impacts the prevention and treatment of childhood
obesity, osteoporosis, stroke and diabetes. For more information,
visit www.twu.edu or call (940) TWU-2000.
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VGS Marketing Group
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