Glynn D. Key
Elisabeth Pearson Waugaman
Susan Taylor Cobb
Jackie McClain
Girls Preparatory School awarded the 2015 Distinguished Alumna Award posthumously to Glynn D. Key ’82 on Friday at a luncheon that began Alumnae Weekend activities. Achievements of the Margaret Rawlings Lupton Award of Excellence recipient and two new inductees into the Athletic Hall of Fame were also celebrated. Several tables were filled by members of the Class of 1965 on campus for their 50th reunion.
A top student, stellar athlete, and natural leader, Ms. Key served as president of the Student Council, received the Senior Scholarship, and was voted “Most Versatile” by her classmates. She attended the University of Virginia as both a Jefferson Scholar and Echols Scholar and earned her law degree there as well. At UVA, she chaired the Honor Committee and was a member of the Seven Society. She served in the first Clinton administration at the Department of the Interior and successfully negotiated a contentious Florida Everglades restoration settlement under then-Secretary Bruce Babbitt. At the time of her death, she was general counsel for General Electric, overseeing a global team and projects in 130 countries. She served on boards for the Miller Center for Public Affairs, the Wharton School of Business, and UVA’s Board of Visitors. Her mother, Ruby Key, accepted the award in her daughter's honor.
The Margaret Rawlings Lupton Award of Excellence recipient was Elisabeth Pearson Waugaman ’65. Dr. Waugaman is an author, illustrator, blogger and speaker. Her first book, Follow Your Dreams, the Story of Alberto Santos-Dumont, for which she received a medal from the ambassador of Brazil, was featured at the Smithsonian Museum of Air and Space. Another book, Women, Their Names and the Stories They Tell led to an invitation to post columns on Psychology Today’s blog. Dr. Waugaman has a Ph.D. from Duke University, where her focus was Medieval French Literature. She taught in her church Sunday school for 13 years and has worked with an organic farm near her hometown of Potomac, Maryland, helping them to develop an educational program for children. She is a member of Club d’Amitié Francophone.
Susan Taylor Cobb ’90 and Jackie McClain Freelend ’00 were inducted into the Girls Preparatory School Athletic Hall of Fame for their outstanding achievements and contributions in soccer and softball.
Ms. Cobb was a freshman starter at GPS the first year that soccer was recognized as a TSSAA sport. She was captain of a state finals team in her senior year and was honored in January of 1990 by being named NSCAA All-American, the only female from Tennessee. Her GPS soccer career brought multiple recognitions: three years All-State; three years All-Region; 1989 Region Player of the Year; 1989 All-South, and the aforementioned 1989 All-American honor. She attended Davidson College and was a four-year starter on the varsity soccer team, elected co-captain by her teammates in her senior year. She ended her college career tying the school’s record in the number of assists per game.
Ms. Freelend ’00 led GPS to two state softball championships in 1998 and 2000. A shortstop, her batting average was .489 with 230 hits and 194 RBI’s. Ms. Freelend made multiple All-Star teams, including the Tennessee Sports Writers Association All-State team every year she played. The TSWA named her Player of the Year for three consecutive years. In 2000, she was named the Tennessee Gatorade Softball Player of the Year. At the University of Alabama, she was SEC Freshman of the Year and four-time National Federation Coaches Association All-American, Easton All-American, and All-South Region and All-SEC teams. In addition, she was three-time Academic All-SEC and was an Academic All-American in 2004.