The Iowa Commission on the State of Women has announced their 2021 Hall of Fame inductees. The recognition for these four remarkable women includes a posthumous award to an iconic figure from Denison, Donna Reed. The academy-award-winning actress and advocate for peace is being celebrated for her successful career in entertainment, as a trailblazer for women in television as well as a humanitarian who advocated for social justice and world peace. There is one other posthumous award being presented to Cornelia Clark, who was a nature photographer, academic contributor and book illustrator. The other inductees include: Dr. Roxann Marie Ryan, Ph.D. of Cresco who was the former Iowa Commissioner of Public Safey and an Assistant Iowa Attorney General as well as an educator and scholar who made groundbreaking progress in public service; and Jan Mitchell of Des Moines who was the 2019 Teacher of the Year and Iowa Latino Hall of Fame Robert D Ray Award for Equity and Justice recipient and is a champion of Latino students and women’s rights. Since its inception in 1975, the Iowa Women’s Hall of Fame has inducted 188 women. In lieu of an in-person ceremony this year, the commission will honor the inductees in a virtual ceremony with more details to be announced in the coming weeks.
