Share this pageFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 13, 2002
For More Information, Contact:
Kristina Loquist at (916) 651-4011
SACRAMENTO – Assemblyman Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) announced today that he has selected Judy Hannemann as the 21st Assembly District’s Woman of the Year.
Each year, members of the State Assembly and Senate select a woman from each of their respective districts to be recognized and honored as a Woman of the Year. Hannemann will be recognized for her distinguished career of service in a formal ceremony on the Assembly Floor in the State Capitol on March 18, 2002.
“For over three decades, Judy has provided outstanding leadership in education and in the community at large,” said Simitian. “I’m delighted that we can honor her for her many contributions.”
Hannemann has served as a school board member for the past 25 years, first on the Los Altos School District Board and then on the Mountain View-Los Altos High School District Board. She has served as President of the Mountain View-Los Altos High School District Board four times, and she currently sits on the California School Boards Association Board of Directors.
Hannemann has been participating in community initiatives since she moved to Los Altos in 1965. In addition to her school board activities, Hannemann is active with the Mountain View Rotary Club, Los Altos Community Foundation Board of Directors, Southern Peninsula Hearing League, and Partners for a New Generation.
As a mother of three children, Hannemann has been a classroom volunteer, PTA president, soccer coach, and tennis coach. She has worked at Stanford University as Assistant Dean of Students and has served on the boards of the League of Women Voters – Los Altos/Mountain View, YWCA, Santa Clara County School Boards Association, and Los Altos Tennis Club. Hannemann also helped to form the Community Health Awareness Center, an organization designed to help create healthy lives for the children and families of Mountain View, Los Altos, and Los Altos Hills.
“I am so touched by this award,” said Hannemann. “Even after all these years, I find education and other community issues vital and interesting. Actively contributing to my community has always been important to me. To be recognized by Assemblyman Simitian and the State Legislature is icing on the cake.”
Hannemann works as a project director for Healthy Ventures, a Mountain View–Los Altos based collaborative that focuses on children’s health. She grew up in Denver, received a B.A. degree in English literature from Middlebury College and a M.A. degree in education from Stanford University
Simitian first met Hannemann when he was elected to the Palo Alto Unified School District Board in 1983. “I know first-hand that being a school board member is extremely rewarding, but also very challenging and time-consuming. The fact that Judy has devoted 25 years to serving as a school board member is truly inspiring,” said Simitian. “Even more impressive,” said Simitian, “is the fact that Judy is as energetic, enthusiastic, and committed to kids as she was when I first met her almost two decades ago. She is committed to making our community a better place, and I’m immensely proud to name Judy Hannemann as Woman of the Year.”