The Biondi Copeland Lecture Series

Biondi Copeland Lecture Series on Women in Higher Education

During the celebration of our 25th anniversary, the Georgetown University Women’s Center (GUWC) announced the inauguration of the Biondi Copeland Lecture Series on Women in Higher Education, supported by Gianna Biondi (C’85) and John Copeland (C’84). The lecture series fosters dialogue, discourse, and increased visibility for topics regarding higher education and women’s leadership roles.

On October 25, 2016, we welcomed Patricia McGuire, J.D., President of Trinity University and Linda LeMura, Ph.D., President of Le Moyne College for our inaugural lecture, where they discussed women in leadership roles at Catholic and Jesuit universities. President John J. DeGioia offered welcoming remarks and Jeanne F. Lord, J.D., Ed.D., Associate Vice President for Student Affairs & Dean of Students, Deputy Title IX Coordinator for Undergraduate Students, and Director of the Jesuit Leadership Seminar, moderated the panel.

On March 27, 2016, alumna Nancy Chi Cantalupo (F’95, L’03) joined us for our second lecture. Professor Cantalupo discussed the future of Title IX and sexual violence prevention on college campuses.

In February 2017, Rosemary Kilkenny, J.D., Georgetown’s first Vice President for Institutional Equity, Diversity, and Affirmative Action, delivered the Biondi Copeland lecture and received the inaugural Dr. Carol J. Lancaster Award for leadership in the Georgetown community.

On October 17, 2018, we welcomed Dr. Johnnetta Cole, President Emerita of Spelman College and Bennett College and former Director of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, who spoke in conversation with Dr. Marcia Chatelain, Associate Professor of History and African American Studies. 

On January 29, 2020, Kerry Murphy Healey, Ph.D., delivered the Biondi Copeland Lecture. An internationally recognized leader in higher education and public policy, Dr. Healey is the inaugural President of the Center for Advancing the American Dream in Washington, D.C. Dr. Healey’s distinguished career spans higher education, public service, and foreign and domestic policy. In July 2019, she capped six years as the first woman president of Babson College, the 100-year-old business school consistently ranked as the leader in entrepreneurship education. Previously, Dr. Healey served as Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor, where she led bipartisan efforts to improve services for the homeless and those impacted by the opioid crisis, and increased protections for victims of child abuse, drunk driving accidents, and sexual and domestic violence. She was also integral in crafting the state’s pioneering health care reform legislation.