1779
   Margaret (Molly) Corbin becomes the first woman to 
receive a military pension in the United States for her 
heroism and service to the country during the Revolution.
She later resided in Highland Falls and her remains are today 
buried in the West Point cemetery.

1957
   Maj. Emma Baird becomes Assistant Chief, Personnel 
Branch and is reputed to be the first woman staff officer at USMA.

1968
   Dr. Betsy Lewis, the Academy fine arts librarian, becomes the 
first female faculty member at West Point when she begins 
teaching art classes in the English Department to First Class cadets.

1973
   1st Lt. Virginia Fry becomes the first full-time female faculty 
member when she serves as a geography instructor in the 
Department of Earth, Space, and Graphic Sciences.

1975
   President Ford signs legislation opening the service academies 
to women applicants.

1975-1980
   Project Athena conducted. This joint Military Academy-Army 
Research Institute effort was one of the nation’s first systematic 
studies of the integration of women into an all-male institution.

1976
   119 women become the first women cadets at West Point 
when they join the Class of 1980.

Mrs. Sue Peterson becomes the first woman instructor in the 
Department of Physical Education.

1978
   CBS made-for-television movie “Women at West Point” airs.

Maj. Nancy Freebairn becomes the first woman tactical officer.

1979
   Kathy Gerard becomes the first woman Brigade Executive Officer.

Col. Mildred Hedberg becomes Chief of Staff, USCC.

1980
   Terry Tepper, nationally recognized javelin thrower, wins first
 trophy for “most valuable service to women’s athletics” from the AAA.

Maj. Cathy Kelly becomes the Academy’s first woman Permanent 
Associate Professor then she is named a professor in the Department 
of Geography and Computer Science.

1981
   Dena Caradimitropoulo is the first woman and only the sixth cadet to 
win the AAA Special Award for “outstanding achievements and 
exemplary leadership in athletic competition.”

The Women’s Cross Country team wins the New York State 
Championship.

1984
   Karen Short becomes the first woman Regimental Commander and 
the first woman to command Cadet Basic Training (CBT).

Women’s basketball team wins Eastern Regional NCAA Division II title;    
Melody Smith is named regional Most Valuable Player (MVP). 

1985
   Lissa Young becomes the first woman Deputy Brigade Commander 
and the first woman to command Cadet Field Training (CFT).

Women’s indoor track team defends its title at the Heptagonal 
Championship.

Marcie Seiner is named to the 1985 Academic all-America Division II 
team by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America.

1986
   Rhonda Barush, captain of the rifle team, wins all-America 
recognition for four straight years.

1989
   Capts. Heidi Brown (USMA ’81) and Mary Finch (USMA ’83) 
become the first women graduates to serve as tactical officers.

Kristin Baker becomes the first woman Brigade Commander.

2nd Lt. Laura Slattery (USMA ’88) is the first woman to earn the title    
of distinguished honor graduate of the Air Assault School.

1990
   Maj. Margaret M. Bahnsen becomes the first woman Regimental 
Tactical Officer (3rd Regiment).  MAJ Brenda Bradley served as 
an acting Regimental Tactical Officer in July 1987 and then as the
Regimental Executive Officer in the 1st Regiment for the 1987-88    
Academic Year.

1991
   2nd Lt. Kathleen Sherry, (USMA ’89), loses her life in Operation 
Desert Storm.

1992-1993
   Capt. Margaret Belknap, (USMA ’81), in the Systems Engineering 
department, is the first woman to serve as a White House Fellow.

1995
   Rebecca Marier, a Corps Regimental Commander, becomes the 
first woman to rank at the top of her class.

1997
   The Academy conducts a 20th anniversary conference on the 
Admission of Women recommended by the DA Committee on 
Women in the Services (DACOWITS) to discuss gender issues with 
cadets and make recommendations on ways to improve the West 
Point climate for women.

Barbara Treharne (USMA ’80) and Heidi Brown (USMA ’81) are 
among four women who are selected to command air defense 
artillery Patriot battalions.

Col. Maureen K. LeBoeuf is appointed Professor and Head of the 
Department of Physical Education becoming the first woman to be 
named head of one of our academic departments and “Master of 
the Sword.”

1999
   Alison Jones receives a Soldiers Medal for heroism for the 
terrorist bombing of the American Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya. 
She becomes only the second cadet in a decade to receive 
this honor.