Good afternoon.  At this time, I ask Lilly Ledbetter to join me at the podium.

At Walden University, we believe that knowledge is most valuable when put to use for the greater good.  All of us are deeply committed to improving the human and social condition by creating ideas – and then applying them – to advance society as a whole.  The heart of our mission can be summed up in three words. Positive Social Change. 

Today, we are privileged to be joined by a woman who has made positive social change a reality for millions – Lilly Ledbetter.  And I want to tell you her story.

Mrs. Ledbetter served as a manager at the Goodyear Tire & Rubber plant in Gadsden, Alabama, for almost 20 years. During her career with Goodyear, she received top performance awards and was the only woman selected to initiate the light truck production at the Gadsden plant.  Near the end of her career, she received an anonymous note informing her that she had been consistently paid much less than virtually all of her male co-workers over those many years.  She sued Goodyear – and won a jury verdict of more than three million dollars.  But in 2007, in the case of Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, the United States Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4 against Mrs. Ledbetter, saying that she had waited too long to bring her claim, thereby overturning her original verdict and bringing her case to an end.

Her case became more than just another judicial decision – it prompted a national campaign to pass the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which ensures that other victims of pay discrimination have more time days after their first discriminatory paycheck to file a complaint. The United States Congress passed the legislation in January of this year, and it was the very first bill signed into law by President Barack Obama on January 29, 2009.

For the past ten years, Lilly Ledbetter has been a passionate advocate for equality and fairness and women’s rights.  And she has brought about change.  Positive social change.  In the end, Mrs. Ledbetter saw no monetary award – not a cent – for her fight against pay discrimination.  Yet what she has given back – to all of us – is priceless.

Lilly Ledbetter, in honor of your moral leadership, great courage, and extraordinary impact on our nation and our world, Walden University proudly presents to you the Presidential Award for Leadership in Social Change.  Congratulations.