Throughout the past 120 years Tri Delta has had over 200,000 initiates. Through a program called “Distinguished Deltas”, Executive Office honors those woman for their prestigious accomplishments. They are nominated by other members of the fraternity.
Distinguished Deltas
Katie Curic
Virginia
Host of CBS Nightly News
Katie Couric has been co-anchor of Today since April 5, 1991. She joined the program in June 1990 as its first national correspondent and then served as substitute co-anchor from February 1991 until becoming permanent co-anchor. She is also a contributing anchor for Dateline NBC. Since joining NBC News, Couric has interviewed a variety of political figures such as President George W. Bush, First Lady Laura Bush, President Clinton and Senator Hillary Clinton, Senators John Kerry, John McCain and John Edwards. Couric has conducted interviews with icons such as John F. Kennedy, Jr., prior to his death in July 1999. In a five-part morning-show exclusive interview, she spoke with John and Patsy Ramsey about the highly publicized death of their daughter, JonBenet. Couric also anchored two days of live coverage from Littleton, CO, following the shooting rampage at Columbine High School in April 1999. In May 2001, Couric was honored with a prestigious George Foster Peabody award for her series “Confronting Colon Cancer.” She has also won six Emmys, a National Headliner Award, the Society of Professional Journalists’ Sigma Delta Chi award, an Associated Press Award, a Matrix Award, two Gracie Allen Awards, the Julius B. Richmond Award by the Harvard School of Public Health, and UNICEF’s Danny Kaye Humanitarian Award. In March 2000, she launched the National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance (NCCRA), in an effort to end the threat of colon cancer through education to encourage preventive testing and new medical research. Couric graduated with honors from the University of Virginia. She lives in New York with her daughters, Elinor and Caroline.
Sara Blakely
Florida State
Founder and owner of Spanx
Sara Blakely wanted footless bodyshaping pantyhose to wear with her cream-colored pants and open-toed shoes, but she couldn't find them anywhere. Frustrated consumer turned entrepreneur, Blakely took $5,000 in savings and began her adventure in the $2 billion male dominated hosiery industry. Two years later, and selling over 50,000 pair in its first three months, Sara Blakely’s Spanx revitalized an industry in a ten-year slump. Remaining self-funded and profitable ever since Blakely used her own savings to start the company, Spanx continues to show increasing profits. Spanx products are sold at Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdales, and other upscale retailers and boutiques in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. Blakely’s story and Spanx products have been featured on everything from The Oprah Winfrey Show, CNN, Forbes, and Glamour, to Vogue, People, InStyle, New York Times, Vanity Fair, and USA Today. In 2002, Blakely was named Ernst & Young’s Southeast Regional Entrepreneur of the Year and she was recently named “Woman of the Year” for the state of Georgia. If you haven’t seen Blakely flashing her Spanx on QVC, you may have seen her on Fox’s The Rebel Billionaire: Branson’s Quest for the Best. As the first runner-up on the show, she received a $750,000 check from Branson to pursue her dream to start a foundation to empower women. Blakely is a native of Clearwater, Florida, and a graduate of Florida State University. She currently lives in Atlanta, GA
Doris Kearns Goodwin
Colby
Presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author
Presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Doris Kearns Goodwin has been a well-known political commentator and national baseball expert for more than two decades. Serving as an assistant to Lyndon B. Johnson during the last year of his presidency, Goodwin also worked with him on his memoirs. She has authored numerous best-selling books on American presidents, including Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream, The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys, and No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. Goodwin taught at Harvard University as a professor of government for ten years. She was honored as a Woman of Achievement at Tri Delta's Convention 2006.
Muffy Davis
Stanford
Member of the United States Disabled Ski Team
Muffy Davis began skiing when she was three and began ski racing when she was seven. As one of the top junior racers in the country, Davis was well on her way to accomplishing her goal of competing in the Olympics. Unfortunately tragedy struck in February of 1989. While downhill training, Davis went off course and slammed into a tree, crushing her back and resulting in complete paraplegia. She chose to refocus the energy spent on racing towards academics and community service. After graduating Valedictorian of her high school class, she went on to graduate from Stanford University. At college, Davis spent time learning how to mono-ski, adaptive skiing for paraplegics, and after her college graduation decided to give ski racing another shot. Since then, Davis has consistently improved and excelled in disabled ski racing. As a member of the United States Disabled Ski Team, her accomplishments include: winning Silver medals in the 2002 Paralympics in Salt Lake City, UT, two World Cup Overall Titles in 2001and 2002, a bronze medal in at the Paralympics in Nagano, Japan in 1998, A World Championship 2000 in Anzere, Switzerland, five World cup Titles and over twenty five World Cup medals. In 2002 she received the Most Inspirational Athlete of 2002 from Challenged Athletes Foundation and was awarded The Endurance Sports Award's Disabled Athlete of 2002. She was also honored with the IOC President's Disabled Athlete Award. In May of 2002, Davis successfully ascended California's Mt. Shasta. The trip took 5.5 days to summit the 14,162' mountain. In September of 2004, she and a fellow adventurer made the first ever wheelchair ascent of Colorado's 14,110' Pike's Peak. Now as a retired ski racer, Davis is building her career in motivational speaking and is working on a book.
Anne Abernathy
Texas
Olympian
Anne Abernathy, Texas, earned her popular nickname, "Grandma Luge," for being the oldest woman athlete to compete in the Winter Olympics; her field, of course, is luge. Despite her age, she is a consistent competitor with frequent World Cup podium finishes, and she is repeatedly ranked in the top 20 world rankings. Anne has competed in six Winter Olympics, the latest in 2006. Before her first Olympic appearance in 1988, Abernathy was diagnosed and treated for non-Hodgkins lymphoma (cancer). Although the cancer returned several times during her sports career, the fact was kept hidden from the public through three Olympic appearances until it was revealed in a front page article of the Washington Post prior to the 1998 Nagano Olympics. In 2001, Anne suffered a serious accident during a World Cup race in Altenberg, Germany that resulted in a severe brain injury. To recover from the injury, she used an alternative medicine treatment involving controlling rockets in a video game through electrical impulses from brain waves, a therapy designed to help her retrain her brain to compensate for the damaged areas. The therapy was successful and she was able to return to competition in time to qualify for the 2002 Winter Olympics. Challenging all expectations, Anne is not only the oldest woman to compete in the Winter Games, she is the oldest female Olympian in any Olympic Games (Winter or Summer) and the first woman over the age of 50 in the Winter Olympics.
JoAnna Garcia
Florida State
Actress
Born and raised in Tampa, Fla., JoAnna Garcia first started performing at the age of 10. While in high school, Garcia was discovered by Nickelodeon and starred for two seasons in the television series “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” After graduating from high school, she spent a year attending Florida State University, but Hollywood was calling. She moved to Los Angeles and the day she arrived landed a role in the television movie Holy Joe. Soon after, she was cast in a recurring role on the series “Party of Five.” She also had a memorable recurring role on “Freaks and Geeks." She has also appeared on “Family Law,” “Providence,” “Dawson's Creek,” and “Opposite Sex.” Garcia is best known for her role as Cheyenne Montgomery on The WB's hit show "Reba." On the big screen, she was seen in the feature comedy sequel American Pie 2 and Not Another Teen Movie. When she's not working, Garcia volunteers teaching English as a second language to pre-school-aged children in Los Angeles.
Hoda Kotb
Virginia Tech
NBC New Anchor
Hoda Kotb has been a Dateline NBC correspondent since April 1998 and was named the host of the weekly syndicated series, Your Total Health, in September 2004. At NBC, she has covered a wide variety of domestic and international stories. Kotb has reported on the war in Iraq, the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, and the War on Terror in Afghanistan. Kotb also traveled to Southeast Asia to cover the devastating effects of the 2004 Tsunami. Kotb has been honored with several awards while at NBC, including the 2004 Headliner Award, 2003 Gracie Award and the 2002 Edward R. Murrow Award. Prior to NBC, Kotb worked as an anchor and reporter in New Orleans, Fort Myers, Moline, and Greenville. Kotb began her broadcast career with CBS News as a news assistant in Cairo, Egypt. She graduated from Virginia Tech University with a bachelor of arts in broadcast journalism. She currently co-hosts the 4th hour of the Today Show.
Shawn Weatherly
Clemson
Miss Universe 1980
Shawn Weatherly was Miss USA and then Miss Universe in 1980. Since her pageant days, Shawn has made numerous television appearances on series such as Baywatch, Chicago Hope, thirtysomething, Murder She Wrote, and Matlock. Shawn has also appeared in several feature films.
Cathy Guisewite
Michigan
cartoonist, creator of Cathy
Born in Dayton, Ohio, Cathy Guisewite attended the University of Michigan and received a bachelor's degree in English. Guisewite's first career moves took her into advertising. She was a writer for Campbell-Ewald Advertising from 1972-73 and for Norman Prady Ltd. She then went to work at W.B. Doner & Co. Advertising, leaving in 1977 as a vice president. Her comic strip, "Cathy," debuted in newspapers in November 1976. The strip chronicles the trials, tribulations and inherent humor in the life of America's favorite single career woman. It appears in more than 1,400 newspapers worldwide. In addition, more than 20 collections and gift books of "Cathy" cartoons have been published. Guisewite is the recipient of numerous awards, including the prestigious Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year from the National Cartoonists Society in 1993. In 1987, Guisewite received an Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program for her first animated special, "Cathy," and two more animated specials have been broadcast in the U.S. Guisewite is a member of the National Cartoonists Society and is included in "Who's Who in America," "Who's Who of American Women," "Who's Who in American Journalism" and "The International Authors' and Writers' Who's Who." Cathy resides in Los Angeles. She lives with her husband, screenwriter/director Chris Wilkinson, daughter and stepson.