1st Woman U.S. Army Three-Star General to Discuss 'Breaking Barriers' at UCF

By Mark Freeman Oct. 19, 2009

Retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Claudia J. Kennedy will be among prominent women leaders speaking at UCF on Oct. 27.

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Prominent women leaders who have served in various national and international capacities will discuss “breaking barriers” at the University of Central Florida, Tuesday, Oct. 27. The forum is part of an annual focus, “Women and Leadership in the Evolving 21st Century World.”

Organized by the UCF Global Perspectives Office in a partnership with retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Jay Garner, the forum will take place in the Cape Florida Ballroom of the Student Union from 2:00 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. It is free and open to the public.

Robin Buckelew, retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Claudia J. Kennedy, Mary C. Rawlinson and The Honorable Winifred Sharp will all make presentations during the event. Maria Cristina Santana, interim director of UCF’s Women’s Studies Program and associate professor of journalism in the Nicholson School of Communication will serve as moderator.

Buckelew is the director of the Applied Sensors, Guidance and Electronics Directorate at the Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Center for the United States Army. Despite the challenges of being a woman in a field dominated by men, Buckelew worked her way up to higher management levels while earning two graduate degrees, a master’s in 1977 and a Ph.D. in 1994. She also joined the Senior Executive Service and received a Presidential Rank Award in 1997. Earlier, Buckelew earned a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Alabama.

Kennedy is the first woman to achieve the rank of three-star general in the United States Army. Her career took her from the Women’s Army Corps in the late 1960s to the position of Deputy Chief of Staff for Army Intelligence in 1997-2000. She oversaw policies and operations affecting 45,000 people stationed worldwide, with a budget of nearly $1 billion. As a general officer, she served as the senior intelligence officer for the U.S. Forces Command, and Deputy Commanding General for the Army Intelligence Center and School. She completed her career as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence. Kennedy received numerous honors and awards during her military career, including the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal, the Army Distinguished Service Medal, and four Legions of Merit, which are awarded for “exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements.”

Rawlinson is the editor of the International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics and an associate professor at Stony Brook University.  She served four years as associate dean for curriculum in the College of Arts and Sciences and founded the Learning Communities Program. She won the President's Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1998 and was Stony Brook's nominee for Carnegie Teacher of the Year in 1997. She is an Affiliated Faculty in both Comparative Literature and Women's Studies.  Rawlinson is also the co-editor of “The Voice of Breast Cancer in Medicine and Bioethics” and “Derrida and Feminism,” as well as the editor of five issues of the Journal of Medicine and Philosophy. She has lectured all over the world.   

Sharp is a retired judge who last served on the Fifth District Court of Appeals from 1979 to 2006. Prior to her position as judge, she was an attorney and partner for Johnson, Motsinger, Trismen & Sharp, P.A. Sharp held numerous committee and commission appointments during her career, including the Governor's Commission on Status of Women, from 1973 to 1976; the Florida Supreme Court Gender Bias Study Implementation Commission from 1994 to 1996; and the Florida Supreme Court Matrimonial Commission in 1985. Sharp also was a president of the Florida Association of Women Lawyers. She has received multiple awards, including the Rosemary Barkett Outstanding Achievement Award in 1998 from the Florida Association of Women Lawyers. 

In addition to the Global Perspectives Office and Gen. Garner, sponsors of this forum include Lawrence J. Chastang and the Chastang Foundation, UCF Diplomacy Program, UCF Student Government Association, UCF LIFE, UCF Political Science Department, UCF Women's Research Center, UCF Women's Studies Program and the Global Connections Foundation.

UCF Stands For Opportunity --The University of Central Florida is a metropolitan research university that ranks as the 3rd largest in the nation with more than 53,500 students. UCF's first classes were offered in 1968. The university offers impressive academic and research environments that power the region's economic development. UCF's culture of opportunity is driven by our diversity, Orlando environment, history of entrepreneurship and our youth, relevance and energy. For more information visit http://news.ucf.edu

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