Anne Murray ("Nancy") Morgan, former Radcliffe College trustee, will receive the Helen Homans Gilbert Award for Distinguished Volunteer Service, and Linda K. Kerber, professor of history at the University of Iowa, will receive the new Radcliffe Award for Distinguished Academic Scholarship, announced Nancy- Beth Gordon Sheerr, chair of the Radcliffe Board of Trustees. The award winners will be honored at a ceremony on Sunday, April 11, in Cambridge.

First awarded in 1978, the Helen Homans Gilbert Award was named for its first recipient, Helen Gilbert, chair of the Radcliffe Board of Trustees and the first woman to serve on the Harvard Board of Overseers. The award recognizes exceptional commitment to volunteer service.

The Radcliffe Award for Distinguished Academic Scholarship in the broad areas of knowledge related to women, gender, and society was established this year to recognize outstanding scholarship in an intellectual domain where, historically, Radcliffe has made significant advances. Both awards reflect the values embodied in Radcliffe's mission and its commitment to support and enhance the variety of ways in which women contribute to society. "It is a great honor to present these awards for volunteerism and scholarship to recipients who are so deserving," said Sheerr. "Both Nancy Morgan and Linda Kerber exemplify the dedication to excellence, influential leadership, and passion for progress that Radcliffe has come to symbolize."

"Excelling as purposeful pathfinders, these leaders have set the standard in their spheres of action," said Radcliffe President Linda S. Wilson. "They have also inspired many others to join in their worthy endeavors. We laud both their accomplishments and the extraordinary examples their lives have set." Currently the honorary co-chair of the Campaign for Radcliffe, Morgan has held numerous volunteer leadership posts at Radcliffe and Harvard, including president of both Radcliffe's and Harvard's alumnae associations, and membership on the Radcliffe Board of Trustees and the Harvard Board of Overseers. She has also been active in other community organizations. She is past president of the Worcester Art Museum and of the Junior League of Worcester, a former member of the Smithsonian National Board, and a trustee of Plimoth Plantation. Morgan's previous honors include the Radcliffe College Alumnae Association Distinguished Service Award, the Harvard Medal, the Worcester Women in Development Award, and the Isaiah Thomas Award for Distinguished Community Service. Kerber has taught at the college and university levels for over 30 years, including at the University of Chicago, Stanford University, and San Jose State College. She is a historian of women's rights and women's roles in American history, and a member of the Society of American Historians and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. As former president of the Organization of American Historians, Kerber has played an important role in gaining recognition for women historians and women's history within the discipline. Her theory of "republican motherhood" has profoundly influenced American historical thought. A former Guggenheim fellow and National Endowment for the Humanities fellow, Kerber has written several books, including U.S. History as Women's History: New Feminist Essays, and last year's No Constitutional Right to be Ladies: Women and the Obligations of Citizenship. She is a distinguished international lecturer and has spoken in Tokyo, Stockholm, Berlin, Milan, and Florence. She has also lectured widely in the United States.