Florence Ellinwood Allen (1884-1966)
B.A. Music 1904, M.A. Political Science, Constitutional Law 1908
From suffragette attorney to federal judge, Florence
Ellinwood Allen opened many doors that were previously closed to women. In 1919—one year before gaining the right to vote—she was appointed assistant prosecutor for Cuyahoga County, Ohio—the first woman in the country to hold such a position. One year later she was elected as Judge for the Court
of Common Pleas. In 1922 she was elected to the Ohio
Supreme Court where she sat until 1934 when President F. D. Roosevelt appointed her to the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. In 1958 she became the first woman to serve as Chief Judge of a Circuit Court of Appeals. Allen spoke on human rights, cultural relations, and international law and was the author of This
Constitution of Ours (1940), The
Treaty as an Instrument of Legislation (1952), and her autobiography, To
Do Justly (1965). Judge Florence Ellinwood Allen will be inducted into the National
Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, NY on October 8, 2005.
Ann Womer Benjamin, J.D. '78
 
Ann
Womer Benjamin served four terms representing most of Portage County
in the Ohio House of Representatives before Governor Taft selected her in
January 2003 to serve his cabinet
as the first woman Director of the Ohio
Department of Insurance. In the Ohio House, she served for more than
four years as Chairman of the House Criminal Justice Committee. Previously
she spent 18 years with the Cleveland firm of Arter & Hadden where she practiced
law in the areas of estate planning, probate and probate litigation.
Bruce Cole, B.A. History '62
Bruce
Cole, a scholar of Renaissance art, is the eighth chairman of the National
Endowment for the Humanities. He came to the Endowment in December 2001
from Indiana University in Bloomington,
where he was a professor of art history and of comparative literature. He
has written fourteen books, many of them about the Renaissance, and has has
held fellowships and grants from the Guggenheim Foundation, American
Council of Learned Societies, Kress
Foundation, American Philosophical
Society, Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at the University
of California, Los Angeles, and National Endowment for the Humanities.
Marc Dann, J.D. '87
A
founding partner of the Youngstown law offices of Dann
& Falgiani, Marc
Dann was appointed to fill a vacancy on the Ohio
Senate in 2003. Dann has been active in politics since his youth. He
served as Director of U.S. Senator Gary Hart's campaign in Illinois, Missouri,
and Indiana, as an Assistant Field Director for Richard Celeste's gubernatorial
campaign, and as Director of Mary Boyle's campaign for United States Senator.
Before going into private practice, he was Assistant Attorney General of
the state of West Virginia where he directed the Antitrust division of that
department.
Lieutenant General Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. (1912 - 2002), Adelbert College
Lieutenant
General Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. became
the first black officer to receive a
star in the United States Air Force.
Davis began his academic career at Adelbert
College and then received his degree
from West Point, where he graduated
in the top 15% of his class. Upon graduating,
he was assigned to the infantry then
went to Tuskegee
as part of a new flight training program.
He received his wings in 1942 and the
following year became commander of the
99th Pursuit Squadron flying P-40s in
the Mediterranean Theater of World War
II. The following year as commander
of the 332
Fighter Group Colonel Davis led
a mission to escort B-24 bombers to
targets in Germany during which his
39 Thunderbolts took on 100 enemy fighters.
Davis was awarded the Distinguished
Flying Cross for his leadership on
this mission. As leader of the 332nd,
he oversaw over 15,000 sorties. In
1953 Davis took command of the 51st
Fighter-Interceptor Wing in Korea.
He retired as a lieutenant general
in 1970, after which he served as Assistant
Secretary of Transportation for Environment,
Safety under President Nixon.
Stephanie Tubbs Jones, B.A. Sociology '71, J.D. '74
Congresswoman Stephanie
Tubbs Jones is the first African-American woman elected to the United
States House of Representatives from Ohio. A strong advocate for economic
development, healthcare, and quality education for all, she serves on
the House Ways and Means Committee,
the Committee on Standards of
Official Conduct (Ethics), and is an active member of numerous Congressional
Caucuses, including the Congressional Black Caucus for which she chairs
its Housing Task Force. Prior to her election to the House, Congresswoman
Tubbs Jones served as the first African-American and the first female
Cuyahoga County, Ohio Prosecutor. She was also the first African-American
woman to sit on the Common Pleas bench in the State of Ohio and was a
Municipal Court Judge in the City of Cleveland.
Sally Conway Kilbane, M.S. Nursing '71, M.A. Economics '82,
Ph.D. Economics '87
Sally
Conway Kilbane is in her third term of office with the Ohio
House of Representatives, representing the 16th Ohio House District.
In this role she serves as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee
and is a member of the Commerce and Labor, Homeland Security, Engineering
and Architectural Design, and Municipal Government and Urban Revitalization
committees. Prior to her joining the Ohio House, she taught economics at
Cleveland State University and Case Western Reserve University.
Dennis Kucinich, B.A. '73, M.A. Communications Science '74
Dennis Kucinich came
to the public's attention in 1977 when he was elected mayor of Cleveland
at age 31; the youngest person ever elected to lead a major American city.
In 1994 he returned to politics as a state senator and in 1996 he was elected
to congress as the democratic representative serving Ohio's
10th District. Congressman Kucinich is currently campaigning to become
the democratic nominee for United States President in 2004.
Silumpa Lertnuwat, L.L.M. '99, U.S. Legal Studies
In 2005, Silumpa
Lertnuwat was elected as a member
of parliament in Thailand. Representing Bangkok for
the Thai Rak Thai party,
Silumpa has said she would push for laws to support women’s
rights and improve security for Bangkok residents, adding
that her politician father, former deputy commerce minister
Samphan Lertnuwat, inspired her to enter politics. Silumpa
said Thai Rak Thai’s decisive victory would mean policies
materialize faster and more efficiently. Silumpa is a former
advisor to the Public Health Minister of Thailand.
Dale Miller, B.A. Psychology '71
Dale
Miller has served as Ohio State
Representative for the 14th House District since 1997. Prior to that
he was a Councilman for the
City of Cleveland. He has served on the Ohio Democratic Central Committee,
the Cuyahoga County Democratic Executive Committee and on the Board of Directors
for the Great Lakes Science Center.
Jim Petro, J.D. '73
Jim
Petro is currently serving his first term as Ohio
Attorney General. As Ohio's chief lawyer, he serves as legal counsel
to the state of Ohio, the governor, other statewide officials, the Ohio General
Assembly, and all state departments, agencies, boards and commissions. In
addition to those duties, he issues formal legal opinions on questions of
law submitted by elected officials and prosecutors, and provides investigative
support the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation. Prior to becoming Attorney
General, Petro served for eight years as the Auditor
of the State of Ohio.
Annette L. Sobel, M.D. '83
Brigadier
General, Annette
L. Sobel, is the Director of Intelligence, National
Guard Bureau in Support to the Chief, National Guard Bureau and director of homeland security for the state of New
Mexico. Prior to
her current assignment she served as National Guard Assistant for Weapons
of Mass Destruction and Civil Support to the Chief, National Guard Bureau,
after entering the National Guard as state air surgeon, Headquarters New
Mexico Air National Guard. General Sobel entered the United States Army in
July 1986 as a second lieutenant and was assigned as the director of Undergraduate
Medical Education in the Department of Family Medicine, Womack Army Community
Hospital, Ft. Bragg, North Carolina. In addition to her position in the National
Guard she is also currently serving as Director of the New Mexico Governor's
Office of Homeland Security.
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