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National Women's Hall of Fame announces 2017 inductees

Mentoring USA

The National Women's Hall of Fame has chosen 10 women to be inducted this year. The class of 2017 was announced Tuesday in Seneca Falls, the site of the first women's rights convention, where the hall is located.

--Matilda Raffa Cuomo, who has worked on increasing visibility for issues such as children’s rights, volunteerism and mentoring. As First Lady of New York State (1983-1995), Cuomo co-chaired the Governor’s Commission on Child Care and chaired the New York Citizens’ Task Force on the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect. 

--Dr. Temple Grandin, an animal sciences innovator and champion of farm animal welfare whose  designs for livestock handling systems transformed the industry and are used worldwide today.

--Lorraine Hansberry (1930-1965), a groundbreaking playwright and essayist best known as the author of A Raisin in the Sun that ensured a place for African American experience in American theater.

--Victoria Jackson, a cosmetics entrepreneur who helped create and lead a research foundation with her husband and shaped a paradigm-breaking approach to medical research.

--Sherry Lansing, who has had a long career in the motion picture business, producing, marketing and distributing more than 200 films, including Academy Award winners "Forrest Gump," "Braveheart" and "Titanic." She is the first woman to have headed a major film studio (20th Century Fox) and later served as Chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures. 

Credit Associated Press
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander, speaks to Clare Booth Luce, U.S. Congresswoman, on Dec. 18, 1944.

--Clare Boothe Luce (1903-1987), who blazed many trails for women in her lifetime, as editor of Vanity Fair magazine, a front-line female European and Asian war journalist in WWII, an acclaimed author and playwright, a two-term U.S. Congresswoman and the first woman to be appointed U.S. Ambassador to a major nation (first Italy and then Brazil).  

--Aimee Mullins, who first received worldwide media attention as an athlete. She conceived and was the first to wear and compete in prostheses modeled after the hind legs of a cheetah – now the international standard for amputee runners. 

--Carol Mutter, who served for over 31 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, attaining the rank of Lieutenant General and achieving many firsts, including first woman Marine three-star general, first woman to be qualified as Command Center Crew Commander/Space Commander at U.S. Space Command and first woman of general/flag rank to command a major deployable tactical command 

--Dr. Janet D. Rowley (1925-2013), a geneticist whose research established that cancer is a genetic disease. Her discovery of chromosomal exchanges revolutionized cancer research, diagnosis and treatment.

--Alice Waters, a chef, author, food activist and the founder and owner of Chez Panisse Restaurant in Berkeley, CA. Often called the “Mother of American Food,” Waters has been a champion of local sustainable agriculture for over four decades and is credited with popularizing the organic food movement. 

The formal induction ceremony is scheduled for September, when the women will join 266 others who have been recognized for their contributions to fields including the arts, athletics, business, education and government.

Classes are inducted every other year.

The Associated Press is one of the largest and most trusted sources of independent newsgathering, supplying a steady stream of news to its members, international subscribers and commercial customers. AP is neither privately owned nor government-funded; instead, it's a not-for-profit news cooperative owned by its American newspaper and broadcast members.