Member of U.S. House of Representatives, January 1987 to January 2003. Member, Science Committee (basic research subcommittee; chair, technology subcommittee); Government Reform Committee (civil service subcommittee; chair, district of columbia subcommittee, 2001-03 (past vice-chair)). Former co-chair, Women's Issues Caucus. Served in Arms Control and Foreign Policy Caucus (first woman chair, 1991-94); Federal Government Service Task Force; Arts Caucus. Member, Human Rights Caucus. Co-Chair, Older Americans Caucus, 1994-2003.
Represented United States at United Nations Conference on Population and Development, Cairo, 1994. Co-Chair, Congressional delegation to United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, 1995.
U.S. Ambassador to Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, October 2003 to November 2007.
Member, Maryland House of Delegates, representing District 16 (Montgomery County), 1979-87. Member, Appropriations Committee, 1979-87.
Member, Joint Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) Governance Review Task Force, 2010.
Born in Somerville, Massachusetts, February 12, 1931. Boston University, A.B., 1954; The American University, M.A., 1967. Professor of English, Montgomery College, Rockville, MD, 1970-85. Member, National Advisory Board of The American University, Washington, DC. Trustee, Capitol College, Laurel, Maryland. Member, Montgomery County United Way Council; Advisory Council of Montgomery County Hospice Society. Member, Honorary Board of National Kidney Foundation. Founding member, Global Legislators for a Balanced Environment (GLOBE), an international organization that addresses world environmental issues. Ambassador in Residence, Women and Politics Institute, School of Public Affairs, The American University. Honorary doctorates from The American University, 1988; Norwich University, 1989; Dickinson College, 1989; Mount Vernon College, 1995; University of Maryland University College, 1996; University of Maryland, 1997; Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, 1997; Elizabethtown College, 1999; Washington College, 2000; National Labor College, 2004. Named one of Ten Best Members of Congress for Women by McCall's magazine. Maryland Women's Hall of Fame, 1994. Congressional Award, Energy Efficiency Forum, 2002. Phyllis Campbell Newsome Public Policy Leadership Award, Center for Nonprofit Advancement, 2002. Dr. Nathan Davis Award for Outstanding Government Service, American Medical Association, 2002. Maryland's Top 100 Women, Daily Record, 2003. Shining Star Award, Montgomery Women, 2011. Married; three children, (and raised her late sister's six children).
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