Women’s History Month is the perfect time to celebrate the trailblazing women who work towards a better tomorrow for all women and to honor the women who have made it possible to push the limits set upon us. FSU is a unique institution that has produced multiple female phenoms worth celebrating this March.
Donna Deegan
Donna Deegan is the first-ever female mayor of Jacksonville, Florida. She graduated from FSU in 1984 with a bachelor’s degree in communications and began her career in broadcasting as the morning anchor for WTXL-TV in Tallahassee. In 1988, Deegan returned to Jacksonville and First Coast News to anchor weekend broadcasts before taking on weekday evening broadcasts in 1992.
Deegan is a three-time breast cancer survivor and the founder of The Donna Foundation, an organization that provides funds to care for local women living with breast cancer. In 2006, The Donna Foundation and Mayo Clinic announced the inaugural run of the 26.2 with Donna: The National Marathon to Fight Breast Cancer.
Sara Blakely
Spanx, an intimate apparel company focused on foundation garments, started as a one-woman endeavor by Sara Blakely, a 1993 communication studies FSU graduate. Modeling her own product to Neiman Marcus Group representatives, Blakely hustled her way into getting Spanx sold at seven Neiman Marcus stores before attracting the likes of Bloomingdales and Saks Fifth Avenue. Spanx would eventually blossom into a billion-dollar business, valued at $1.2 billion in 2021. Blakely is also a minority owner of the Atlanta Hawks.
Sylvia Alice Earle
Sylvia Alice Earle is a marine biologist, oceanographer, National Geographic explorer, author, and lecturer. Graduating from FSU with a Bachelor of Science, Earle would go on to receive her Master of Science and Doctorate of Psychology from Duke University. She was recently featured in Seaspiracy, a Netflix original documentary.
Some of her noteworthy achievements include being the first female chief scientist of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and being named the first Hero for the Planet by TIME Magazine in 1998. Dr. Earle is a part of the group Ocean Elders, a worldwide group of environmentalists dedicated to the preservation of the Earth’s oceans.Â
Joi McMillon
Barry Jenkins was not the only FSU alum involved in the production of the Academy Award-winning film Moonlight (2016). Joi McMillon is a film editor who graduated from the FSU College of Motion Picture Arts in 2003. McMillion is best known for her work on award-winning films Moonlight (2016), If Beale Street Could Talk (2018), and Zola (2020). In her 2017 nomination for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing, McMillon became the first black woman nominated for an Oscar for film editing.
Carolyn S. Griner
Graduating from FSU with a degree in astronautical engineering in 1967, Carolyn S. Griner would embark on a 36-year career with NASA. Starting as a materials and structures engineer in 1964, Griner eventually retired as the Marshall Space Flight Center’s deputy director in Alabama. Griner has received several accolades throughout her career, including the Distinguished Service Medal, the space agency’s highest honor.Â
Florida State University has been, and will continue to be, an institution that generates phenomenal female scholars.
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