Retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor Lends Name to DirectWomen Award

CHICAGO, July 26, 2007—Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor is used to breaking boundaries in the legal arena. An innovator and pioneer, she became the first woman justice in the Supreme Court’s history. Now, she’s lending her name to an award honoring women lawyers who are breaking boundaries of their own.

The Sandra Day O’Connor Board Excellence Award honors women lawyers who have contributed to the advancement of women lawyers as corporate directors. Twelve honorees were presented with the award on March 30 at a luncheon in New York.

The award is part of the DirectWomen Initiative, a program of the American Bar Association Section of Business Law and Catalyst that helps to prepare qualified women lawyers for service on the boards of U.S. companies. In turn, it created the DirectWomen Board Institute, an annual two-day workshop designed to heighten the participants’ understanding of the demands of corporate board membership.

“I”m very humbled and inspired that I get to share this award with such an accomplished group,” said Barbara Barrett, a Sandra Day O’Connor Board Excellence Award recipient. “It’s an exciting time to be a woman in the legal profession.”

Following is a complete list of awardees and the boards on which they serve:

Barbara M. Barrett—Aerospace Corporation, Exponent, Inc. and Raytheon Company

Beverly C. Chell —Primedia Inc. and SpaFinder, Inc.

Andrea S. Christensen—KeySpan Corporation

Maryellen C. Herringer —ABM Industries Incorporated, Pacific Gas & Electric Company, PG&E Corporation and Wachovia Corporation

Lisa A. Hook —Reed Elsevier Group plc, Reed Elsevier NV, and Reed Elsevier PLC

Patricia A. King —Golden West Financial Corporation (Acquired by Wachovia Corporation)

Vilma S. Martinez— Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc., Bank of the West, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation and Fluor Corporation

Victoria A. Morrison —Bed Bath & Beyond Inc.

Aulana L. Peters —3M Company , Deere & Company, Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. and Northrop Grumman Corporation

Sheli Z. Rosenberg —Avis Budget Group, Inc., CVS Caremark Corporation, Equity Lifestyle Properties Inc.,  Equity Residential Properties Trust and Ventas, Inc.

Laura Stein —Franklin Resources, Inc.

Full information on the Sandra Day O’Connor Award Luncheon and applications for the 2008 DirectWomen Board Institute will be available on Aug. 1. For more information on the Sandra Day O’Connor Board Excellence Award or DirectWomen, visit www.directwomen.org.

An innovative initiative of the American Bar Association Section of Business Law and Catalyst, DirectWomen is specifically designed to identify, develop, and support a select group of accomplished women lawyers to provide qualified directors needed by the boards of U.S. companies, while promoting the independence and diversity required for good corporate governance.

With more than 60,000 members, the ABA Section of Business Law is one of the Association’s largest sections. It provides business lawyers with education and analysis that furthers the development and improvement of business law and helps its members serve their clients competently, efficiently and professionally.

Catalyst is the leading research and advisory organization working with businesses and the professions to build inclusive environments and expand opportunities for women at work. As an independent, nonprofit membership organization, Catalyst conducts research on all aspects of women’s career advancement and provides strategic and web-based consulting services globally.

With more than 413,000 members, the American Bar Association is the largest voluntary professional membership organization in the world.  As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law in a democratic society.