Romona Fullman receives Katharine Duddy Smith Award

At its biennial convention in Wilmington May 17, the American Association of University Women Delaware presented its first Katharine Duddy Smith Award to Romona Fullman, director of both the Delaware Division of Human Relations and the Delaware Commission for Women. The award recognizes her significant contributions toward achieving AAUW's goals of equality and education for women and girls in Delaware.

She has proven to be a leader of and a role model for Delaware's women and girls through her legal and legislative work, her many networking activities, and her general promotion of women's rights and well-being.

The award was established this year by AAUW Delaware, which is composed of six branches, two of which are in Sussex County - Coastal-Georgetown and Western Sussex. The others are Dover, Middletown, Newark and Wilmington. The award honors its first president, Katharine Duddy Smith.

Smith graduated Cornell University with a BS in home economics in 1921. She was a member of the Wilmington branch and received her Association Life Membership in1981. Smith listed her occupation before marriage as a home economist and cooking teacher. She served as the Wilmington branch treasurer and president. In 1939, a tentative constitution was drafted that would separate Wilmington and the two other Delaware branches, Seaford (now Western Sussex) and Dover from the Pennsylvania Division. After months of preparation, the Delaware Division came into being in May 1940, and Smith became its first president. She passed away April 7, 1993.