COLUMBUS (April 3, 2002) - Governor Bob Taft today announced that nominations for induction into the Ohio Women's Hall of Fame are being accepted for the year 2002.

Women selected in 2002 will join 333 other outstanding members, including Sarah M. Deal, the first female Marine pilot; Betty Zane, Revolutionary War heroine; Barbara Ross-Lee, first African-American woman dean of a college of medicine; Maude Charles Collins, Ohio's first woman sheriff; Nancy Drew mystery writer Millie Benson, Toni Morrison, Nobel Prize winner; Muriel Siebert, first woman to own a seat on the New York Stock Exchange; space shuttle astronaut Judith Resnik, and Maya Lin, designer of the Vietnam and civil rights memorials.

"The members of the Ohio Women's Hall of Fame have demonstrated a drive to better the world and to serve others," Taft said. "We welcome nominations of outstanding Ohio women whose creative and pioneering spirit inspire us to dream about a better future."

Criteria for selection include:

• Significant accomplishments at the local, state, national and/or international level;
• Uniqueness and scope of contributions;
• The extent to which the nominee provides inspiration to others; and
• Being born in Ohio or living in the state for at least five years.

New members will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this fall in Columbus. The Ohio Women's Hall of Fame was established in 1978 to provide public recognition of the outstanding contributions Ohio women have made to the state and nation.

Nomination forms are available from the Women's Programs Office at the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, 145 S. Front St., 6th Floor, Columbus, Ohio 43215; phone, (614) 466-4496 or fax, (614) 466-7912. Nomination forms are also available at the Ohio Women's Hall of Fame website, at jfs.ohio.gov/women/halloffame/ Nominations must be postmarked by May 3, 2002.

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