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DOROTHY I. HEIGHT Dr. Dorothy I. Height is the President of the National Council of Negro Women (Ncnw), which is an organization comprised of chartered community' sections and national.affiliates with an in the struggle for human rights for all people for over five decades. A native of Richmond, Virginia, Dr. Height attended New York University on a scholarship, where she earned the Bachelor's and Master's degrees in four years. She continued advanced studies at Columbia University and the New York school of Social work. While working as a caseworker for the welfare department in New York, Dr. Height joined the Ncnw in 1937 and her career as a pioneer in civil rights activities began to biossom. She served on the national staff of the YwcA from 1944 to 1977 where she directed the District Action Program on Integration. In addition, she served as president of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. from 1946 to 1957 before becoming president of the NCNW in 1958. Workiny closely with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Roy wilkins, Whitney Young, A. Philip Randolph and others, Dr. Height participated in virtually all major civil and human rights events in the 19so's and i9so's. Dr. Height also held several government appointments during her career. In 1962 she was appointed by President Kennedy as a member of the President's commission on the #status of Women". She served as a delegate to Unesco's Conference on "women and Her Rights" in 1974, and also served as the official U.s. delegata for the United Nations Mid-Decade Conference on Women held in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1980. Dr.. Height received the National Urban League Equal Opportunity Day Award in 1982. A self-help advocate, Dr. Height has been instrumental in the Initiation or ncnw sponsored food, child care, housing, and career educational programs that embody self-help principles. Recently, she has shifted the focus of Ncnw to fighting economic ineguity as weli as developing allegations regarding the .demisej of the Black family. In 19s6, she conceived and organized the Black Family Reunion Celebration to accentuate the positive aspects of 'the Black family. Now in its fourth year, the Celebration stresses th. historic strengths and value traditions of the Black family and its contributions to American life and culture. 4 - 161-2333