The Elizabeth P. Hoisington ’40 Distinguished Alumna Award is presented to a graduate who, through achievements in career and/or community service, embodies the principles of Notre Dame.

Winners, who have graduated no fewer than five years ago, have demonstrated loyalty to the University and achievements in career and or community.

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History

After her death in 2007, the award was dedicated to Brig. Gen. Elizabeth P. Hoisington ’40, who served our nation with leadership and vision—particularly as one of the first women to attain the rank of U.S. Army general. The 2008 award was the first given under the new name.

2024 Award Winner

Sheri Booker and President Marylou Yam

Sheri J. Booker '04 

Sheri J. Booker is an award-winning author, educator and poet. The author of “Nine Years Under: Coming of Age in an Inner-City Funeral Home,” Booker won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work by a Debut Author. She’s been featured in the New York Times, Essence Magazine, Washington Post, Baltimore Magazine, NPR and TVOne. In 2014, she graced the cover of the Baltimore Sun’s “50 Women to Watch” issue.

Booker was a junior at Notre Dame when she self-published her first book, “One Woman, One Hustle.” By age 25, she landed a major publishing deal with Avery Books.

Booker has lived and worked in South Africa, where she helped teach journalism to women in the Northern Province and created an international literary magazine. She also served as a cultural ambassador for the U.S. Embassy and traveled to India to perform and teach poetry.

Booker’s passion has always been to empower young women and help them find their voices. A former middle school teacher at the Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women, she has developed curriculum and programming for schools and organizations all over the East Coast. Each summer, she hosts the SWAGG (Success and Wisdom Awaiting Good Girls) Academy summer program for young girls in Baltimore City.

A full-time lecturer in the School of Global Journalism and Communication at Morgan State, Booker recently embarked on a new passion: writing children’s books. She created the “Imagine” series that encourages children in urban settings to dream big.

Past Winners
Year Winner
1991 Patricia Ann Denny Bathon ’49
1992 Veronica Walker Hackett ’67
1993 Mildred Buzek Otenasek ’36, Ph.D. 
1994 Margaret Dempsey McManus ’41
1995 School Sisters of Notre Dame
1996 Margaret Dougherty ’41
1997 Dorothy Brown, Ph.D. ’54
1998 Donna Ringger Easton ’70
1999 Suzanne Janes Peck ’64
2000 Alice El Koury ’39
2001 Margaret J. Steinhagen’54, Ph.D.
2002 Anne Bruggy Deming ’61, Ph.D.
2003 Mary Lu Schroeder McNeal ’50
2004 Regina McKeowne Hubbard ’43
2005 Candee Morici Swenson ’69, Ph.D.
2006 Dr. Doris Ann Trauner ’66, M.D.
2007 Kathleen Carney Buetow ’50, Ph.D.
2008 Dolores Warwick Frese ’58, Ph.D.
2009 Jo Trueschler '49
2010 Edith McParland Donohue '60
2011 Patricia Knott Smyth '51
2012 Kathleen O'Ferrall Friedman '62
2013 Margaret Haskell Farnham '92
2014 Mary Kay Shartle Galotto '64, Ph.D.
2015 Frances Hanna Flanigan '65
The Hon. Irene Murphy Keeley '65
2016 The Hon. Audrey J.S. Carrion '81
2017 Christina Bolmarcich, Esq. '97
2018 Joan B. Davidson '93
2019

Victoria M. Genco Bell '69
Julie Courtney Ben-Susan '69
Andrea R. Bowden, Ph.D. '69
Cathryn Archibald Curia, CPCU '69
Mary Ellen Vanni '69
2020 Mary Beth Lennon '89
2021 Grace Solimando Zaczek ’70
2022 La Vida D. Cooper '03
2023 Kathleen Feeley, SSND '50