TWU To Honor Distinguished Alumni At Honors Convocation

DENTON — Texas Woman's University will honor four distinguished alumni during Honors Convocation ceremonies on April 18 and at an awards luncheon on April 20. The four are Diane Dwight of Spicewood, Alice Ludeman Spencer of Silver Spring, Md., Dr. Kathryn Stripling of Houston and Dr. Kathryn Yandell of Seguin.

Convocation will take place at 10 a.m. on April 18 in the Margo Jones Performance Hall, located near Oakland Avenue and Sawyer Street.

The Distinguished Alumni Awards Luncheon will take place April 20 at 11:30 a.m. in Hubbard Hall, located off Administration Drive. The cost of attending the luncheon is $20 per person, and the deadline for registration is April 10. For registration or information, call (940) 898-2586, visit www.twu.edu/alum or call a 24-hour information line at (940) 898-2534.

Diane Dwight

Ms. Dwight, of Spicewood, earned her bachelor of science degree in government from Texas Woman's University in 1976 and her juris doctorate in 1979 from the University of Texas School of Law.

She has been licensed to practice law in the state of Texas since 1980 and was a trial lawyer from 1981 through 1997. Her cases focused on cancer, leukemia and lung diseases caused by workplace exposure to asbestos and other substances.

As an advocate for workplace safety, she consulted with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the American Public Health Association on disease prevention in the workplace, the efficacy of respirator protection and workers' rights to know about latent dangers in the workplace. In 1996, she was an invited delegate to a United Nations, International Labor Organization, Round Table on Occupational Dust Diseases at Cambridge University in England.

From 1985-87, she was vice-chair for public relations for the Governor's Commission for Women and was a selection committee member for the Texas Woman's Hall of Fame.

She is chair of the Texas Woman's University Foundation and a member of the TWU Foundation board of directors. She also was a donor and organizer for the Sarah Weddington Centennial Leadership Conference at TWU and a member of the TWU Centennial Committee.

Alice Ludeman Spencer

Mrs. Spencer started working as a Home Demonstration Agent for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Victoria County in 1930, helping families deal with the problems of the Great Depression. She married Donald A. Spencer, a biologist and ecologist for the U.S. Biological Survey, in 1932 and had to abandon her career at a time no two people from the same household could hold federal jobs.

Mrs. Spencer elected to become a volunteer wildlife biologist and immersed herself in her husband's work. She accompanied her husband as he conducted research across the country, and became a respected member of his research team.

Mrs. Spencer, who now lives in Silver Spring, Md., graduated from the College of Industrial Arts in 1929 with a bachelor of science degree in home economics and rural arts.

Mrs. Spencer's accomplishments include introducing the Home Demonstration and 4-H programs to the city of Denver, Colo., serving as president of the Colorado chapter of the American Home Economics Association (now American Association of Family and Consumer Science), conducting food preservation programs on radio and television, providing her herbs to the Denver Botanical Gardens for the establishment of its formal herb garden, and serving as a U.S. Bureau of Standards Consumer Council member.

In 1962, Mrs. Spencer and her husband moved to Maryland where she continued her volunteer services.

Kathryn Stripling

Dr. Stripling graduated from TWU in 1962 with a bachelor of science degree in health and physical education. She later earned an M.Ed. and her Ph.D. from the University of Houston. Today, Dr. Stripling is the superintendent of the Houston Independent School District, the seventh largest school system in the United States.

Returning to her hometown of Houston after graduation from TWU, Dr. Stripling began teaching developmentally challenged children. In the early 1970s, she began supervising more than 100 Teacher Corps interns in inner-city schools, followed by a 12-year stint as a school principal.

Her skill as an administrator resulted in her appointment as a district superintendent within HISD. In 1994, she led a three-year project which was the first teacher/professional development cooperative in HISD. That same year, she was named to the first Dream Team of Twenty Intriguing Texans by Texas Monthly magazine.

After six years as a district superintendent, Dr. Stripling was named interim superintendent of schools for HISD on the recommendation of U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige, who was vacating the superintendent's post for his federal appointment. In June 2001, Dr. Stripling was permanently appointed HISD superintendent by the district's board of trustees.

Dr. Stripling is a past president of the Houston Association of School Administrators and a member of the Junior League Advisory Board, Greater Houston Partnership Education and Workforce Committee, the Council of the Great City Schools Executive Committee and National Staff Development Council.

Awards she has received include the Amigo Award (2001) from the Association of Hispanic School Administrators, the Leadership Award (2001) from the Texas Alliance of Black Educators, the Distinguished Education Leader award (2000) from the state of Texas and Certificate of Congressional Recognition (1997) from Rep. Shelia Jackson Lee.

Kathryn Yandell

Dr. Yandell earned a bachelor of science degree in health, physical education and recreation from Texas Woman's University in 1960 and a master of arts in physical education and recreation from TWU in 1965. She earned her Ph.D in physical education from the University of Texas at Austin and completed post-doctoral studies at TWU and UT.

In 1962, Dr. Yandell took a position as an instructor at Texas Lutheran College (now Texas Lutheran University) in Seguin and by 1988 was director of athletics at TLU. She stepped down from that position in 1999 and completed one more year at TLU as a kinesiology professor before retiring.

During her tenure at TLU, she was responsible for increasing the women's program from three sports to eight, and under her guidance men's football was reintroduced. Dr. Yandell also has remained at the forefront of the push for gender equity in collegiate athletics and has worked tirelessly through the National Association for Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) at the local, district, regional and national levels.

Dr. Yandell has served as a consultant to the Texas Education Agency in providing summer in-service programs on various topics related to fitness, curriculum and adapted physical education; served as director of the 1986 Krost Symposium, a national forum focusing on disability issues; and served as a certified coach for Special Olympics track and field. She was named a Distinguished Faculty member (1981) at TLU, the Woman of Achievement (1986) by the Sequin chapter of Zonta International, a Minie Stevens Piper Foundation professor (1988) and NAIA National Athletics Administrator of the Year (1996-97).

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Note: Photos available by contacting Roy Kron at (940) 898-3456 or at rkron@twu.edu.

For Further Information Contact:

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