|
|
BRAVO AWARD |
|||
|
|
||||
|
Directory of Elected Officials
Previous BRAVO AWARD Recipients
|
The BRAVO AWARD is presented to individuals who have shown exemplary dedication to the community by their work for the betterment of El Paso.
2009 BRAVO AWARD Recipient Kathleen Staudt, PhD Dr. Kathy Staudt is being
honored for her many years of service to the El Paso-Juarez community through
her involvement in various organizations, the public schools, the University of
Texas at El Paso where she is a professor in the Political Science Department,
and her numerous books and publications. In
her academic life, she is a leading scholar on the subject of social justice and
women’s issues along the U.S.-Mexico border, with several books such as
“Fronteras no Mas: Toward Social
Justice at the U.S.-Mexico Border”, and “Policy, Politics & Gender:
Women Gaining Ground.” But
Dr. Staudt’s contributions to El Paso go far beyond her scholarly writings.
From 2000-2008, she served as Director of the Center for Civic Engagement
at UTEP. The
mission of the Center is to engage faculty and students in the community through
community-based teaching and learning in order to enhance student learning,
promote civic engagement and actively improve the El Paso-Cd. Juarez Region. She
has also provided numerous training sessions to local educators in areas such as
drop-out prevention and service learning. She
helped found the El Paso Women’s Fund and the Paso del Norte Nonprofit
Resource Center. Lifetime Achievement Award Anita Blair Anita Blair, advocate for open government, was, in 1952, El Paso’s first woman to be elected to the Texas State Legislature and the first and only blind woman elected to the capitol, where she served alongside her German Shepard guide dog, Fawn. Anita was not born blind. She lost her sight in an automobile accident a few months
after graduating from high school. She never let that hold her back.
After recovering from the accident, she learned Braile, learned to use
her seeing eye dog and, went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree from – what
was then – Texas College of Mines in El Paso.
In the fall of 1945, at 28 years old, she moved to Chicago where she
became a nationally known lecturer on traffic safety and accident prevention. After returning to El Paso, and while serving in the state legislature, she introduced and supported legislation to support education, public safety and the rights of the disabled. She also supported a bill that allowed women to serve on juries. At the end of her term, Anita in addition to being an educator, became a lifelong government watchdog. She has, over the years, been a constant, much-recognized “gadfly” at El Paso’s City Council. She is a tenacious, effective advocate of good government in El Paso. We are pleased to present Anita Blair with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Previous BRAVO AWARD Recipients Judge Sam Callan Mayor Suzanne Azar Representative Jack C. Vowell Senator Peggy Rosson Representative Nancy McDonald David G. Marcus Myrna J. Deckert General Dennis D. Cavin Adair & Dee Margo Cecilia Ochoa Levine Judy and J Kirk Robison Colonel Heidi V. Brown Sheriff Leo Samaniego Judge Max Higgs Mayor John Cook
Previous Life Achievement Award Recipients Coach
Don Haskins
|
|||
|
Last Updated 02/23/10 |
||||
