2010
Alum Award Recipients
Lori Belilove '76
Distinguished Achievement Award
Choreographer and dancer Lori Belilove is one of the most celebrated interpreters today of the repertoire of modern dance pioneer Isadora Duncan. After graduating from Mills, Belilove moved to New York, where she founded the Isadora Duncan Dance Foundation in 1979. As artistic director of the foundation and principal dancer of Lori Belilove & The Isadora Duncan Dance Company, Belilove has inspired generations of dancers with Duncan’s spirit and technique. In addition to performing Duncan's dances, she also choreographs new works with her company. "For me, a dance starts way deep in my psyche, like a stirring in my soul," she says of her creative process.
Estrellita Hudson Redus '65,
MFA '75
Outstanding Volunteer Award
In 1991, Estrellita Hudson Redus was asked to co-found the AAMC Alumnae of Color Committee. She accepted the charge—one of many she has undertaken in her decades of service. She has also served multiple terms on the AAMC Board of Governors and the Mills College Board of Trustees, and currently sits on the College’s Diversity Committee. Through her volunteer service, Redus has helped build an association where all alumnae feel welcome.
Leah Hardcastle MacNeil, MA '51
Outstanding Volunteer Award
A lifelong member of the AAMC Board of Governors, Leah Hardcastle MacNeil is also known by Mills alumnae as the committed president of the Oakland–Berkeley Branch. She founded and, for 18 years, served as chair of the AAMC Travel Committee. In this volunteer role, MacNeil organized hundreds of trips and guided tours worldwide, often led by a Mills professor, which brought alumnae from many generations together in journeys of discovery.