Zonta International President Receives Prestigious Award
Message from Zonta International on 11/24/2010 8:47:00 AM Dianne Curtis Receives Minerva Award in Rome, Italy Dianne Curtis, President of Zonta International and the Zonta International Foundation, was awarded the Minerva Award or Premio Minerva 2010 on November 15, 2010 in the Hall of the Capitol in Rome, Italy. She is the first American to receive this prestigious award.Established in 1983 by Anna Maria Mammoliti, President of Il Club delle Donne (Women’s Club), the Minerva Award is given annually to remarkable women working in the fields of entrepreneurship and management, scientific research, arts, literature and social commitment who continuously fight to instill new knowledge, new values and new passions in their communities. Past recipients of the Minerva Award include (among others): Simone Veil, the first female president of the European Parliament; Noeleen Heyzer, former Executive Director of UNIFEM; Sheikha Lubna Al-Qasimi, Minister of Foreign Trade for the United Arab Emirates and the first woman to hold a cabinet position in that country; Mama Koite Doumbia, Chairperson of FEMNET; and Khalida Messaoudi, Algeria’s Prime Minister of Culture.Ms. Curtis was presented with the symbol of the Minerva Award at the award ceremony – a brooch in silver, gold and precious stones, depicting the goddess Minerva.