Women and Leadership

Elizabeth Dole

Friday, 19 Feb 1999 at 2:30 am – C.Y. Stephen's ISU Center

Elizabeth Dole has a long career in public service, holding positions under five administrations, including secretary of transportation under President Ronald Reagan and secretary of labor under President George Bush. She was the first woman to hold the transportation secretary position, and was appointed director of the American Red Cross in 1991. She took a 14-month leave of absence, from November 1995 to January 1997, to accompany her husband, former Sen. Robert Dole, during his presidential campaign. Dole, who has been named by the Gallup Poll as one of the world's most admired women, has received numerous awards for her public service and leadership. They include the Women Executives in State Government Lifetime Achievement Award, the League of Women Voters Leadership Award and the Raoul Wallenberg Award for humanitarian service. She was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1995.Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics Mary Louise Smith Scholar

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Elizabeth Dole was president of the American Red Cross and will hold the Mary Louise Smith Chair in Women and Politics.

Elizabeth Dole visited Kuwait following the Gulf War to assess Red Cross services provided to U.S. military personnel. In December 1992, she visited Red Cross relief operations in famine-stricken Somalia and Mozambique, as well as in war-torn Croatia. Dole led a fund-raising effort that has generated more than $562 million to assist victims of hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, tornadoes and winter storms, as well as non-weather-related disasters.

The Mary Louise Smith Chair in Women and Politics was created in 1995 to honor Eddyville native Mary Louise Smith, the only woman to serve as National Chairman of the Republican Party. Fund raising continues for the $1 million chair, designed to bring outstanding political scholars and leaders to campus.

Smith led the Republican national committee from 1974 through 1977. She was inducted into the Iowa Women's Hall of Fame in 1977 and is a founding member of the Iowa Women's Political Caucus.

The first two holders of the Smith chair were U.S. Sen. Nancy Kassebaum and Ruth Mandel, professor of political science at Rutgers University.