First presented in 1978, the 鶹 Distinguished Alumna Award was established to celebrate the notable achievements of Scripps alumnae and to focus attention on Scripps’ role in the education of women. The award is presented each year during Reunion Weekend.
Latest Recipient: Regina Gonthier ’71
After graduating from 鶹, Regina Gonthier ’71 studied architecture at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich), where she obtained her architectural diploma in 1977. Following early professional experience with the Swiss Archaeological Mission in Greece and in Swiss architectural practice, she co-founded an architectural office in Bern in 1983 with her husband. Together, they won numerous prestigious architectural design competitions in Switzerland, and several of their realised projects have received distinctions and awards.
As a practicing architect, Gonthier is deeply engaged with the profession’s evolution and its social, ethical, and aesthetic responsibilities. She views architecture as a public-interest discipline and believes quality in the built environment is essential to wellbeing and sustainability.
From the early years of her career, Gonthier has been actively engaged as a volunteer in professional organisations with a commitment to the promotion and regulation of architectural design competitions, a key instrument for achieving innovation and quality in the built environment.
She has served as visiting professor of architecture at ETH Zurich and as a member of expert councils for architecture and urban planning in several Swiss cities. She was a Swiss delegate to the Architects’ Council of Europe (ACE), vice president of the Swiss Competitions Commission, president of the Swiss Conference of Architects (CSA), and co-director of the UIA International Competitions Commission.
Elected four times to the UIA Council, Gonthier currently serves as president of the International Union of Architects. Her mandate fosters dialogue among architects from the Union’s 124 member countries, advancing solidarity, equity, inclusion, sustainability, and peace while strengthening the organization to deliver meaningful outcomes for both architects and society.
Past Recipients
| Year | Alum |
| 2025 | Susan D. Anderson ’75 |
| 2024 | Claire Sands Baker ’93 |
| 2023 | Ellen Rosenblum ’72 |
| 2022 | Sara Kim ’86 |
| 2021 | Connie de la Vega ’75 |
| 2020 | Anne Maltman Campbell ’70 |
| 2019 | Barbara Brooks Tomblin ’66 |
| 2018 | Michelle Cleveland ’00 |
| 2017 | Carolyn Sheets Owen-Towle ’57 |
| 2016 | Gayle Pope Morrison ’71 |
| 2015 | Dwandalyn R. Reece ’85 |
| 2014 | Margo Leonetti O’Connell ’64 |
| 2013 | Sally Reeves Osberg ’73 |
| 2012 | Maxine Borowsky Junge ’59 |
| 2011 | Virginia Stibbs Anami ’66 |
| 2010 | Gaye Burpee ’69 |
| 2009 | Cynthia “Pae” White ’85 |
| 2008 | Connie Butler ’84 |
| 2007 | Louise Langlois Francesconi ’75 |
| 2006 | Dr. Kathleen Brogan Schwarz ’64 |
| 2005 | Dede Allen ’45 |
| 2004 | Barbara Cook Wormser ’59 |
| 2003 | Alison Saar ’78 |
| 2002 | Pamela Corey-Archer ’62 |
| 2001 | Hannah-Beth Jackson ’71 |
| 2000 | Beth Nolan ’73 |
| 1999 | Marsha Genesky ’80 |
| 1998 | Susan Fallows Tierney ’73 |
| 1997 | Barbara Arnwine ’73 |
| 1996 | Elizabeth Arnold Stone ’71 |
| 1995 | Marjorie Merryman ’72 |
| 1994 | Nancy Neighbor Russell ’53 |
| 1993 | Pamela Bowren Vandiver ’67 |
| 1992 | Idelle Feinberg Weber ’54 |
| 1991 | Ruth Ashton Taylor ’43 |
| 1990 | Jil Harris Stark ’58 |
| 1989 | Ruth Markowitz Owades ’66 |
| 1988 | Jean Bixby Smith ’59 |
| 1987 | Suzanne Muchnic ’62 |
| 1986 | Tanya Cherry Tull ’64 |
| 1985 | Susan Lautmann Hertel ’52 |
| 1984 | Nancy Cook Aldrich ’66 |
| 1983 | Rosemary Radford Ruether ’58 |
| 1982 | Judith Nelsen Keep ’66 |
| 1981 | Ruth Churchill ’54 |
| 1980 | Laura Thurston Gutman ’57 |
| 1979 | Maryanne McNellis ’68 |
| 1978 | Ellen Hutchinson Ellis ’39 |