Florida Women's Hall of Fame inductees named

TALLAHASSEE - Governor Charlie Crist today announced three women to be inducted into the Florida Women’s Hall of Fame.  Governor Crist selected the women from a list of 10 finalists, presented to him by the Florida Commission on the Status of Women. 

“The leadership of these women is what helps to make Florida such a wonderful state,” Governor Crist said.  “Their impressive accomplishments have improved their communities and the entire Sunshine State, and they deserve great praise for their dedication. I am honored to recognize their contributions through the Florida Women’s Hall of Fame.”

Louise H. Courtelis 
Louise H. Courtelis is a successful international businesswoman, noted philanthropist and longtime supporter of higher education and veterinary care in Florida.  Louise Courtelis was born on a dairy farm in Corfu, New York. She moved to Florida in the early 1950s to attend the University of Miami, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in education and met her future husband, the late Alec Courtelis, a successful real estate developer with whom she raised a son and daughter. She taught at the Notre Dame Academy for Girls and Coral Gables High School before co-founding the Kendall Academy, a preschool and elementary school in Miami. In 1970, she and her husband established Town and Country Farms in McIntosh, Florida, eventually building it into the leading Arabian horse racing facility in the nation. Louise Courtelis and her husband convinced lawmakers to establish the Alec P. Courtelis Facilities Enhancement Challenge Grant Program, which provides matching state dollars for major private donations that support construction and renovations in Florida’s public universities.  A former trustee at the University of Florida, she helped to raise more than $8 million while serving as chairwoman of the Dean’s Advisory Council for the UF College of Veterinary Medicine. Formerly chairwoman of the UF Foundation, she has been instrumental in the success of larger fundraising campaigns, including a UF capital campaign that raised $850 million starting in 1997. Louise Courtelis is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Special Service Award from the UF College of Veterinary Medicine in 2002. She also received the University of Florida’s first Distinguished Achievement Award in 1993 in honor of her contributions on behalf of veterinary medicine. She received the E.T. York Service Award in 1994 from the Board of Regents. 

Florida Senator Gwen Margolis
Senator Gwen Margolis is a longtime elected official whose historic achievements in office have paved the way for many other women. First elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 1974, she was re-elected three times before being elected to the Senate in 1980. In the Senate, she chaired committees including Finance, Tax and Claims, and Appropriations, where she helped deal with the budget crisis facing Florida at the time. In 1990, Senator Margolis was named President of the Florida Senate, becoming the first woman in the United States to serve as president of any Senate. While President, she spearheaded landmark open government and open records legislation. She also helped secure passage of legislation touted at the time as the toughest ethics in the country. She served eight years on the Miami-Dade County Commission before being elected in 2002 to the Florida Senate, where she served until 2008. She serves on the Board of Directors of the World Trade Center, the Holocaust Documentation and Education Center, and the Maximum Dance Center. She is listed in the Who’s Who of Women in the World and the Who’s Who of Women, and she has received numerous awards including the Florida Chamber of Commerce “Legislator of the Year,” the North Dade Chamber of Commerce and Gold Coast Chamber of Commerce “Woman of the Year,” and the “Glass Ceiling” award from the Florida Federation of Business and Professional Women. A real estate investor, she lives in Miami and has four adult children and seven grandchildren.

Betty Sembler
Betty Sembler has dedicated more than three decades to fighting the war on drugs, starting in 1976 when she and her husband Melvin Sembler became founding members of Straight, Inc., a nonprofit drug treatment program that has since helped 12,000 young people across the country. She also has helped shape national anti-drug policies through her work starting in the mid-80s with the White House Conference for a Drug-Free America and as a member of the Governor’s Drug Policy Task Force in Florida. Betty Sembler also has served on the board for DARE Florida, a national organization that provides anti-drug education to elementary and middle school students. She also is vice chairwoman of DARE International and has campaigned against liberal drug policies around the world while traveling with her husband, who served as U.S. Ambassador to Australia and is currently the United States Ambassador to the Republic of Italy. She is founder and president of Save Our Society from Drugs, and she co-founded the Drug Free America Foundation Inc. Betty Sembler also serves on the boards of the Florida Holocaust Museum, Florida Governor’s Mansion Foundation, the Florida House in Washington, D.C., and the University of Florida Brain Addiction Research Advisory Council. In March 2008, the Drug Enforcement Agency Museum Foundation presented her with its Lifetime Achievement Award in honor of her lifelong commitment to fighting drug addiction. Her efforts also have been recognized by The Houston Drug Free Business Initiative and the Girl Scouts of Suncoast Council, which named her a “Woman of Distinction” in 2000.

About the Florida Women’s Hall of Fame
In 1992, the Florida Legislature established the Women’s Hall of Fame to be located on the Plaza Level of the Capitol, where the names of the inductees are permanently displayed.  Under the law, the Florida Commission on the Status of Women is required each year to nominate 10 women to the Governor, who selects up to three for induction.  To be considered for induction into the Florida Women’s Hall of Fame, the inductee must be a woman who was born in Florida or adopted Florida as her home state and base of operation, and has made significant contributions to the improvement of life for all citizens of Florida.