1990 RECIPIENT—MARY MAXELL GATES

“Mary M. Gates epitomizes the Junior League of Seattle’s ideal of volunteer leadership for community impact as well as the spirit of the Dorothy Bullitt Award and is therefore a particularly distinguished choice as its 1990 recipient. Very much in the tradition of the award’s namesake, Mary Gates’ leadership and accomplishments are an illustration of the tremendous power of trained and dedicated volunteers.

A long-time member and former President of the Junior League of Seattle, Mrs. Gates has an extraordinary record of service in the community, in both the corporate and nonprofit sectors. This month she received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Gonzaga University, the latest in a growing number of tributes.

Former President of the Board of Directors of United Way of King County, she has also been Chairman of the Board of United Way International and is a current member of that board. She is currently serving the third of three consecutive six-year terms on the University of Washington Board of Regents, and is a member of the Advisory Board of the School and Graduate School of Business Administration at the U.W.

She is Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Interphil-North America and a Board member of the Children’s Hospital Foundation, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and University Preparatory Academy. Secretary and Trustee of the Seattle Symphony Foundation, Mrs. Gates is Chairman of Discover Greater Seattle for the Seattle Chamber of Commerce, Chairman of the Leadership Council of Washington Gives and First Vice President of the 100 Club of Washington.

In the corporate realm, Mrs. Gates has served on the Board of Directors of First Interstate Bank since 1975, the Board of Unigard Security Insurance Group since 1977, and US West Communications (formerly Pacific Northwest Bell Telephone Company) since 1979. She has been a Director of KIRO, Inc. since 1984 and has recently joined the Board of US West New Vector Group.

Her community service has included chairmanship of the Executive Committee of United Way of America, as well as terms on its Board of Governors and Executive Committee. She has also been chairman of the Washington State and Northwest District Committees of Selection for the Rhodes Scholarship Trust. Mrs. Gates has held positions on the boards of Children’s Hospital and Medical Center; the Y.W.C.A.; Seattle Children’s Home; the Seattle Foundation; the Family and Child Service Agency; and the Washington Council for International Trade. She has been Vice President of the Board of Authority of the King County Museum of Flight Authority, has served as both Chairman and board member of Leadership Tomorrow, and has been Regional Co-Chairman of the White House Conference on Children and Youth.

In addition to the above-mentioned honorary degree, Mrs. Gates has been a recipient of the following awards: the Distinguished Achievement Award, presented this year by the University of Washington’s College of Arts and Sciences; The United Way of America Alexis de Tocqueville Society Award; the Kappa Kappa Gamma Achievement Award; the YWCA Isabel Colman Pierce Award; the Anti-Defamation League’s Torch of Liberty Award; the Brotherhood Award of the National Conference of Christians and Jews; the Women of Achievement Award from Women in Communications; and the Florence Morrill Kappa Kappa Gamma Alumnae Award.

The Junior League of Seattle is proud to have such an outstanding member, and to have this opportunity to recognize her achievements.”

-From the June 1990 League Sheet