Katie Couric

Katie Couric is the anchor and managing editor of the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, a 60 Minutes correspondent and anchor of CBS News primetime specials. In 2006, Ms. Couric became the first female solo anchor of a weekday network evening news broadcast.

Ms. Couric has covered the historic presidential election race of 2008, anchoring the primetime coverage live from the Iowa Caucuses and the New Hampshire and Ohio primaries, as well as Super Tuesday and other primary nights from New York. Recently, she called out the sexism that was rampant in the media during the primary season.

For 15 years Ms. Couric was co-anchor of NBC News' Today. While at NBC, she was also contributing anchor for Dateline NBC. Ms. Couric joined NBC News in 1989 as deputy Pentagon reporter before serving as its first national correspondent in June 1990, which included two stints covering the Gulf War.

Ms. Couric has covered most of the major breaking news events over the past 15 years, including the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center; the Columbine tragedy; six Olympic Games, including the 1996 Atlanta Olympic bombing; the funeral of Princess Diana; and the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings. She has interviewed an extraordinarily diverse collection of newsmakers, from presidents and prime ministers to captains of industry and cultural icons.

After losing her husband, Jay Monahan, to colon cancer in 1998, Ms. Couric embraced the fight against the country's number two cancer killer, launching the National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance. Following her on-air colonoscopy in 2000, a scientifically documented 20 percent increase was noted in the number of colonoscopies performed across the country. Researchers at the University of Michigan dubbed this "The Couric Effect."

Dr. Dorothy I. Height

Dr. Dorothy Irene Height is the chair and president emerita of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW), having served as its fourth president from l957-l998.

For nearly half a century, Dr. Height has given leadership to the struggle for equality and human rights for all people. Her life exemplifies her passionate commitment for a just society and her vision of a better world. In the early 1930s, Height's career as a civil rights advocate began, as she worked to prevent lynching, desegregate the armed forces, reform the criminal justice system, and establish free access to public accommodations.

Height was assistant executive director of the Harlem YWCA in 1937 when Mary McLeod Bethune, founder and president of NCNW, invited her to join the organization in the quest for women's rights to full and equal employment, pay and education.

Height was national president of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority from 1947 to l956. In 1960, Height was the woman team member leader in the United Civil Rights Leadership along with Martin Luther King, Whitney H. Young, A. Philip Randolph, James Farmer, Roy Wilkins and John Lewis. In 1964, after the passage of the Civil Rights Act, Height organized teams of women to assist in the freedom schools and open communication between women of difference races.

In addition to her domestic work, Height became known for her internationalism and humanitarianism, lecturing and studying around the world.

Height has received numerous awards and honorary degrees. On her 92nd birthday, Height was presented the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civil and most distinguished award presented by the U.S. Congress.

Honorable Janet Reno

Janet Reno served as United States Attorney General, by appointment of President Bill Clinton, from 1993-2001. She was the first, and to date the only, female United States Attorney General and the second longest serving Attorney General, after William Wirt in 1829.

Born and raised in Dade County, Florida, Ms. Reno attended Cornell University where she majored in chemistry. In 1960, Ms. Reno enrolled at Harvard Law School, one of only 16 women in a class of more than 500 students. Her broad work experience after law school, including private practice, staff director of the Judiciary Committee of the Florida House of Representatives, and a position with the Dade County State's Attorney's Office, earned her appointment as State Attorney General for Dade County, Florida, in 1978. That appointment was reaffirmed by the voters five times before she was appointed United States Attorney General in 1993.

Although retired from public office, Ms. Reno continues to offer her experience, intellect, and passion to issues ranging from education to terrorism. She serves as co-chair of the American Judicature Society's Commission on Forensic Science and Public Policy, is on the board of the Innocence Project, and is a strong voice in support of policy reform relating to the integration of science and the law and the prevention of wrongful convictions.

Linda Chavez Thompson

Linda Chavez-Thompson is the highest ranking woman ever in the U.S. labor movement. She was elected as executive vice president of the AFL-CIO in 1995 and served in this position for 12 years, until September 2007. She was the first person of color to be elected to one of the federation's three highest offices, and she now holds the title of executive vice president emerita.

A native of Lubbock, Texas, Ms. Chavez-Thompson is a second-generation American of Mexican descent. Upon her retirement, she celebrated 40 years in the labor movement, beginning in 1967 with her first work for the Laborers' local union in Lubbock. She went on to serve in a variety of posts with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) in San Antonio and became an international vice president in 1988, a post she held until 1996. She also served from 1986 to 1996 as a national vice president of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, AFL-CIO. In 1993, Ms. Chavez-Thompson was elected and served a two-year term on the Executive Council of the national AFL-CIO.

As executive vice president emerita of the federation, Ms. Chavez-Thompson will continue to work on behalf of the AFL-CIO as chair of the AFL-CIO Immigration Committee and as a member of the board of the American Association for People with Disabilities. She will continue to serve as a Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee and as the president of the Trade Union Confederation of the Americas, which is the Western Hemispheric arm of the International Trade Union Confederation.

Marna S. Tucker, Esq.

Marna S. Tucker has practiced law in the domestic relations field for over 30 years, and is a nationwide expert in complex divorces, domestic violence and prenuptial matters. She gained prominence for her leadership in the legal community, having been elected the first woman president of the District of Columbia Bar in 1984 and the first woman president of the National Conference of Bar Presidents.

A founding board member of the National Women's Law Center, Ms. Tucker also chaired the Mayor's Commission on Violence Against Women. She has been recognized several times as one of the "Top Divorce Lawyers" by Washingtonian Magazine as well as one of the "Top Lawyers" in Washington, D.C.

Appointed by the Chief Justice, Ms. Tucker currently chairs the Federal Judicial Center Foundation Board. She is a senior partner at her firm, which has the largest domestic relations practice in the Washington metropolitan area. Ms. Tucker is a fellow of the prestigious American College of Trial Lawyers and a fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.

The American Bar Association honored Ms. Tucker with its Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award and the Robert Drinan Distinguished Service Award. She also has been honored by the Women's Bar Association of the District of Columbia as Woman Lawyer of the Year, among many other awards.

Ms. Tucker has been an Adjunct professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center and a Lecturer of Law at Catholic University Columbus School of Law. She received an Honorary Doctor of Laws from the District of Columbia School of Law.

With a special tribute to...

Kim Gandy

NOW President Kim Gandy will be honored at the gala for her many years of service to the National Organization for Women. To read her full bio, please go here.