Donna Shalala was the first woman to head a Big Ten university and the longest-serving secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Sister Joel Read served for 35 years as president of Alverno College and became widely known and respected for her innovative education reforms.

Kathryn "Kate" Morrison was the first woman elected to the Wisconsin State Senate.

Katharine Lyall was the first woman president of the University of Wisconsin System.

Patricia "Patty" Loew is a celebrated journalist, filmmaker, and educator about Native Americans in Wisconsin.

Estella Leopold was a paleobotanist and conservationist who conducted ground-breaking research on fossilized pollen.

University of Wisconsin scholar Gerda Lerner founded the academic field of women's history.

Best known for her work on gender, race, and class, University of Wisconsin graduate bell hooks was a prolific writer, speaker, and scholar.

Mildred Fish-Harnack was the only American woman to die by Adolf Hitler's direct order for spying on Germany during World War II.

Sarah Harder started the women's studies program at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and built many women's coalitions in Wisconsin and nationally.