Oklahoma business newspaper The Journal Record is holding its 31st-annual Woman of the Year awards presentation on Thursday, at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.
There have been 50 women selected as honorees for this year’s gala, including Kim Henry, the current director of private charity organization Sarkeys Foundation and former First Lady.
Also selected were two UCO administrative officials, Anne Holzberlein and Elizabeth Kerr, for the work they are doing at UCO and in their community, according to The Journal Record. Holzberlein is the vice president for development at UCO, as well as the executive director of the UCO Foundation. Kerr is the university’s legal counsel.
“I was honored, not for me, but for UCO,” Holzberlein, who holds a Master’s degree in interior design from UCO, said, “Because UCO is so much a part of my life and who I am, that I was just honored to be able to represent UCO like this.”
Aside from her duties as Vice President for Development and Executive Director of the UCO Foundation, Holzberlein also currently serves on the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation Commission, the body that oversees activities of the Director of the OSBI as well as makes the hiring decision for the job. She is also part of Impact Oklahoma, a program that helps fund non-profit organizations within the Oklahoma City area; and currently serves as a sustainer to the Edmond Women’s Club.
One woman from the group will be chosen to be the 2011 “Woman of the Year.”
Kerr was surprised when she found out she was one of the 50 finalists.
“There are about 200 to 300 women that are nominated originally, and then it’s selected down to 50,” she said. “So, when I got the letter that said that I was one of the 50, I was just floored.”
Kerr has served on the boards of several local businesses and organizations, including OU Medical Center, Big Brothers Big Sisters, the Lyric Theater and the Edmond Historical Society. She was the first woman to be named an associate municipal judge in Edmond in 2001.
“If you look at this list, they’re just such amazing women, and several of them I know, and it’s just going to be fun to share a night with them,” she said.
Last year’s woman of the year was Norman, Okla., mayor Cindy Simon Rosenthal. This year’s guest speaker is former Philadelphia Eagles general manager Susan T. Spencer.