Corrections or additions?
This article by Kathleen McGinn Spring was prepared for the
May 9, 2001 edition of U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.
TWIN Women Honored
Bonner is a Princeton name that suggests wealth,
philanthropy,
and the elegant Colonial mansion at 10 Mercer Street that houses the
Corella and Bertram F. Bonner Foundation. But the real story of the
Bonners is more intriguing than that, as the annual Princeton YWCA
Tribute to Women and Industry program suggests.
Corella Bonner is among six women the YWCA is honoring this
week at its annual TWIN awards dinner. Bonner was born in poverty
in a coal mining town in West Virginia. As a teenager, she traveled
north to Detroit with her mother, and worked as a cashier in a
cafeteria
while attending Wayne State University at night. Remaining with the
cafeteria, she rose to the position of manager and was transferred
to New York, where, in 1938, she met Bertram Bonner. By that time
Bonner, who had grown up penniless in Brooklyn, had made a fortune
in real estate, lost everything in the Great Depression, and was in
the process of building another fortune.
The two were married in 1942, and, as their wealth grew, made
community
service an integral part of their lives. They provided food to
indigent
families in Fort Lauderdale when they lived in Florida, and then,
when they moved to Princeton in 1956, they began a broad-based
ecumenical
crisis ministry program housed in the Nassau Presbyterian Church.
Bertram Bonner died in 1993, and Corella Bonner has carried on the
couple’s philanthropic work. In the last 11 years, the Bonner
Foundation
has provided $9.5 million in grants to thousands of religious,
community-based
hunger relief programs across the country and has awarded more than
$12 million in scholarship support to more than 2,500 students at
24 colleges. In addition, the foundation has created a $5 million
endowment at seven schools to carry out the Bonners Scholars Program,
which has become a nationally recognized service scholarship program.
Bonner and her fellow TWIN honorees will be presented at the annual
YWCA Princeton’s TWIN dinner at the Princeton Marriott on Thursday,
May 10, at 5:30 p.m. Call 609-497-2100.
Now in its 18th year in Princeton, the TWIN program was established
nationally by the YWCA to honor women who have made significant
contributions
to their professions and community in executive, entrepreneurial,
educational, and professional roles. Candidates are nominated by
managers,
colleagues, and peers in the workplace and in the community, and are
carefully reviewed and selected by an independent YWCA committee.
Among the other 2001 honorees:
Nancy W. Kieling, executive director, Princeton AreaCommunityFoundation, has built a viable community foundation for the greaterMercer County area in her seven years at the helm. At the end of 2000,PACF had $20 million in assets. That year it had addressed the needsof the disadvantaged citizens across the county through more than$900,000 in grants.Prior to become PACF’s first executive director, Kieling worked onWall Street as a corporate lending officer, for Princeton University,and the Newport Music Festival. A West Windsor resident, she is agraduate of the University of Wisconsin and received a master’s degreefrom Old Dominion University (www.pacf.org)Catherine A. Knupp D.V.M. is vice president of chemistry,manufacturing, and controls, regulatory science at Bristol-MyersSquibb.Her group ensures that regulatory requirements for new chemicalentitiesand marketed products are met, and creates global regulatorystrategiesfor the development and biopharmaceutic assessment of formulations(www.bms.com).Kupp joined BMS in 1987 after obtaining a bachelor’s degree inchemistryand veterinary biosciences, a master’s degree in bioanalyticaltoxicology,and a D.V.M. from the University of Illinois. She lives in Skillman.Susan N. McCoy M.D. is in private practice in gynecologyand infertility in Princeton. She chairs the board of the Martin HouseCommunity for Justice Foundation in Trenton and was awarded thePresident’sAward for leadership in her profession by Womanspace last year. Shelectures at the Medical Center at Princeton through the Women’s HealthAdvisory Committee.McCoy, a Princeton resident, holds a bachelor’s degree fromMississippiState College for Women and an M.D. from the University of AlabamaMedical School.Christy Stephenson is chief administrative office of RWJHealth Care Corporation, an organization consisting of an acute-carehospital, medical adult day centers, child day care centers,ambulatorycare center, home care, physician practices, and a management serviceorganization.Stephenson joined RWJ in 1989 after holding management positionswithinthe nursing profession. A Pennington resident, she holds an RN anda bachelor’s degree from Rider University and an MBA from TempleUniversity.Next StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
