Chancellor Nancy Cantor honored by National Council for Research on Women with Making a Difference for Women Award

Chancellor Nancy Cantor honored by National Council for Research on Women with Making a Difference for Women AwardMarch 04, 2009Ruth Kaplanrekaplan@syr.edu

Syracuse University Chancellor and President Nancy Cantor was honored on Tuesday, March 3, by the National Council for Research on Women (NCRW) as one of five recipients of the Making a Difference for Women Award. The award is presented annually to individuals or organizations that have made a difference in the lives of women and girls through extraordinary achievement and through courageously challenging the status quo.

The other awardees were Sharon Allen, chairman of the board at Deloitte LLP; Sunita Holzer, executive vice president and worldwide human resources officer at Chubb & Son; Angelique Kidjo, Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter; and Sharon Taylor, senior vice president of human resources at Prudential Financial.

Linda Basch, president of the NCRW, said in her opening remarks: “We are honoring these extraordinary women for their leadership and the pathways they are creating to ensure that other women have the opportunity to achieve their full potential.”

The awards dinner, emceed by CNN Correspondent Alina Cho and attended by more than 400 influential leaders in education, business, philanthropy and media, was held at Cipriani Wall Street in Manhattan.

Martin Bandier, chairman and CEO of Sony/ATV Music Publishing, introduced Cantor as “a university president who always puts the needs of her students before her own, a distinguished scholar whose work on behalf of women and minorities continues to challenge and influence national discussions on gender and racial equality, and a trailblazing woman whose life’s work has always been about ‘making a difference.'”

“I am honored to receive this award with four extraordinary honorees-women who really are making a difference in the world,” said Cantor in accepting her award. “And I am especially delighted to have been introduced by Marty Bandier, a longtime champion for women in the music industry. When I think about making a difference, I think about leveling the playing field of educational opportunity, because the gaps we see around us are not about the ability to achieve, they are about the opportunity to achieve.”

Last year, Cantor was one of two recipients of the Carnegie Corporation Academic Leadership Award for her “uncompromising commitment to academic excellence and bold visionary leadership,” and previously received the Woman of Achievement Award from the Anti-Defamation League.