New College Foundation’s 'Power of Women' Features Education and Media Feb 12 and Mar 18
Presenters include New College alumnae Esther Barazzone, Carol Flint and Susan Burns

Click Here to View the Live Simulcast of "The Power of Women in Education on February 12.

(February 10, 2008) – The New College Foundation’s engaging “Power of Women” series continues in February and March with two dynamic programs featuring women of regional and national prominence, three of whom are New College graduates. 

On February 12, “The Power of Women in Education” features keynoters Esther Barazzone ‘64, president of Chatham University; Fiona Crawford, associate director, Roskamp Institute; and Amy C. Wick Mavis, executive director, PACE Center for Girls, Manatee. The moderator will be Maribeth Clark, associate provost at New College of Florida.

On March 18, the 2007-2008 season series concludes with “The Power of Women in Media, Communications & Entertainment.” Guest keynoters will be Carol Flint ‘76, national television producer; Leslie Glass, journalist, playwright and novelist; and Cathy Guisewite, nationally syndicated cartoonist (CATHY). The moderator will be Susan Burns ’76, editor of Biz 941 magazine (Sarasota).

Each program begins at 4 pm in New College’s Sainer Pavilion, 5313 Bay Shore Road, followed by a networking reception.  Net proceeds from donations of $25 per session benefit scholarships for New College women. The sessions are free for New College students, staff and faculty. For reservations, call 941-487-4800 or e-mail PoW!@ncf.edu.

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The 2008 programs feature women who are leaders in their chosen fields:

February keynoter Esther Barazzone, PhD, became president of Chatham College (now Chatham University) in 1992, after a career as a faculty member and administrator at Hamilton and Kirkland Colleges, the University of Pennsylvania, Swarthmore College and Philadelphia University.  She has led Chatham through a period of major institutional renewal and expansion leading to national recognition and elevation to University status in 2007. Barazzone was a Charter Scholar in the first graduating class of New College, earning her BA in Philosophy and History in 1968. She holds a PhD and MA in European Intellectual History from Columbia University, where she was a Fellow of the Faculty.  She received a U.S. Student Fulbright award to Spain and studied at the Wharton School of Business Administration and at Harvard University’s Institute for Educational Management.

 “As an administrator, I have never assumed that tradition or habit should dictate how something should be done,” states Barazzone.  “That has often led me down a path that others have sometimes called innovative. This approach was just as natural as breathing to me – a way of thinking that I learned at New College.  I have always been grateful for this truly provocative, highly individualized education provided within a very caring environment.”

Fiona Crawford, PhD, is associate director of the Roskamp Institute, based in Sarasota with a memory clinic and clinical research offices in Tampa.  Crawford is one of two lead researchers for the institute, which utilizes a broad range of scientific approaches to understanding the causes of and potential therapies for neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders and addictions, with an emphasis on Alzheimer's disease. Crawford holds a BS with honors in Biochemistry & Genetics from Queen’s University of Belfast, Northern Ireland, and a PhD in Molecular Genetics from the University of London, England.  Roskamp Institute recently launched its own PhD program in partnership with Open University of the UK.  For years, New College students have worked as research assistants alongside Roskamp scientists.

“I have been very impressed by the caliber of New College students over the years, and know that many of them have expressed an interest in pursuing a PhD program with us,” states Crawford.  “In my experience the New College student exemplifies the type of student for whom this program is best suited; self-motivating, energetic and broad-thinking, and I must say that we had New College applicants in mind as we designed the program.”

Amy C. Wick Mavis has served as executive director for PACE Center for Girls of Manatee County for 13 years.  PACE provides gender competent programming for girls in 20 counties throughout the State of Florida, and is the only program in the country that effectively targets girls and reduces their involvement in crime.  In 2007, following Ms. Wick Mavis’ vision, PACE Manatee developed and opened a unique program serving girls between the ages of 8 and 11 (SONG: Saving Our Next Generation).  Wick Mavis has an undergraduate degree in Psychology from Mary Washington College and a graduate degree in Education from the University of Delaware.  In 2006, she received the Florida Achievement Award from the Florida Commission on the Status of Women.

In March, the series welcomes Carol Flint, a successful national television producer and playwright. Over the last two decades, the 1978 New College graduate has regularly written and produced episodes for such acclaimed and successful television shows as China Beach, L.A. Law, ER and The West Wing, all shows for which she received Emmy nominations. After sharing in ER’s 1996 Emmy win for “Outstanding Drama Series,” Flint both wrote and produced the long-running TV drama’s 1997 season premiere. The much-publicized episode was broadcast live – a TV genre thought to be extinct. More recently, she was an executive producer of the ABC series, Six Degrees, shot on location in New York City.

Shortly after finishing a master of fine arts degree at the University of California-Davis in 1987, Flint interned at a production company headed by John Sacret Young, who was writing and researching a new television show. The show, set in an U.S. Army evac hospital and R&R center in Vietnam, was China Beach. As part of her internship, Flint interviewed women who had been to Vietnam during the war, many of whom had never told their stories. Flint shined in this assignment, and quickly became a writer for the hit ABC show that eventually received 25 Emmy nominations.

“China Beach will always hold a special place in my heart,” she says. “I was in a good place at a good time.  Within a year of grad school, I had written my first script without ever having to go through the odious steps of writing on speculation. The show lasted three more seasons, until 1991, and by the time it ended I was a producer.”

March also features Cathy Guisewite, creator of the comic strip CATHY, which debuted in newspapers in November 1976. The strip chronicles the trials, tribulations and inherent humor in the life of a typical American woman balancing a new marriage, a demanding job and loving, yet, very involved parents. It appears in approximately 1,400 newspapers worldwide. Guisewite is the recipient of numerous awards, including the prestigious Reuben Award for "Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year" from the National Cartoonists Society in 1993. Born in Dayton, Ohio, Guisewite attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and received a BA in English in 1972. After graduating, she went into advertising as a writer for Campbell-Ewald Advertising (1972-73) and Norman Prady Ltd. (1973-74). As a vice president, she left W.B. Doner & Co. Advertising in 1977. A resident of Los Angeles, her ‘real-life’ parents, Anne and Bill Guisewite, live in Sarasota and have been supporters of New College for many years.

Author Leslie Glass has nearly two million copies of her novels in print, and is a household name for mystery and romance readers everywhere.  She is the author of eleven novels, including her USA Today and New York Times best-selling mystery series featuring NYPD Detective Sergeant April Woo.  She lives in New York City and Sarasota, where she write about the social scene and non-profits for Sarasota Magazine. In 1991, she started The Leslie Glass Foundation, providing fellowships in higher education to support original research in criminal justice and mental health. She has also been a trustee of the New York City Police Foundation since 1998, and has been actively involved in supporting the "Crime Stoppers" program.  She serves on the board of the New College Library Association.

The Power of Women forum series, sponsored by Sarasota Magazine and the Private Client Group at National City Bank, introduces the extraordinary women of the Sarasota-Bradenton area to the students of New College of Florida, the state’s public honors college.  A student panel participates in each session, and a formal mentoring program has been established in tandem with the series.

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