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Recognizes an alumna/us who has made a demonstrated contribution through innovation and/or creation of a fresh approach that inspires or enlightens the lives of others and contributes to the greater good. This contribution may have been made in the scope of the award winner’s career, community work, government, or volunteer service. Throughout Skidmore’s history, the College has challenged itself to make no small plans— to make no ordinary choices—and this award recognizes an alumna/us who purposefully demonstrates this belief in his or her life and work.

Jill Holler Durovsik ’78 is a talented entrepreneur. She built a career as a corporate executive at Merrill Lynch and in 1988 founded her own frm, Corporate Concierge Inc., which went on to become one of the largest commercial real-estate services frms in the industry. All the while, she faced a far greater personal challenge. In 1986, Jill was struggling with the pain of watching her mother die of cancer and the realization of how isolating the disease can be. She recalls that her mother “didn’t have a place to talk about her feelings with others going through the same thing. I could be there for her and listen, but I couldn’t truly get what she was experiencing emotionally. It’s really hard to understand someone else’s fear of dying.” At that time, support groups for cancer patients and their families were rare. The comedienne Gilda Radner, who died of ovarian cancer at age 42, provided Jill with inspiration. Reading Radner’s book It’s Always Something , she learned about the Wellness Community of Santa Monica and how its services had eased the emotional burdens of cancer patients. Encouraged by the work she saw being done there, Jill mustered her considerable leadership skills and passion for helping others and began planning—along with

Connie Masciale Carino ’58 , chair of mental-health nursing at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing—to establish a Wellness Community in Philadelphia that Connie was founding. Over the years, the Philadelphia Wellness Community was replicated at centers nationwide, and it recently merged with Gilda’s Club to become the Cancer Support Community, the largest nonproft employer of psychosocial oncology mental-health professionals in the United States. Jill, who now serves on the CSC’s national board, is slated to become its board chair in 2014.

CSC’s mission is to “ensure that all people impacted by cancer are empowered by knowledge, strengthened by action, and sustained by community.” To that end, the organization augments offering educational tools about the diagnosis and treatment of all types of cancers with something that far too many cancer patients do not receive: holistic, research-based support for the depression, anxiety, and other emotional and social disruptions that cancer can generate.

At each hub in CSC’s network of professionally led community-based centers, patients and their families are offered a comprehensive menu of personalized services, including medical seminars, professionally supervised therapy meetings, yoga, tai chi, art classes, and writing workshops, as well as social activities for the entire family—all free of charge. In 2011, the organization provided $40 million in free services to patients and their families. “It’s such a relief for people to come here and to receive support for the emotional aspect of their cancer journey,” says Jill. That support is available to patients and their families anytime, anyplace. Individuals can access the organization’s seminal education series, “Frankly Speaking About Cancer,” via print, in-person programs, Internet radio, or online at www.cancersupportcommunity .org. The site allows patients to explore professionally facilitated online support groups, follow clinical trials, research cancer-related topics, and learn how to join advocacy efforts.

The work she’s most proud of, Jill says, is that of CSC’s Research and Training Institute, which she currently serves as chair. The institute, the frst research body of its kind in the world, has developed a screening tool for hospital