Apply: About Judith Lee Stronach
A writer, poet, journalist, educator, and philanthropist Judith Lee Stronach gave her time, energy and financial resources unstintingly to those causes she cared most deeply about, including peace, social justice, environmental and arts organizations, regarding issues ranging from ending homelessness in her own community to advocacy for human rights in troubled areas around the globe.
Her passionate commitment to non-violence led her to service on the executive board of Amnesty International, work as an interpreter for the Guatemalan Office of Human Rights, and as a benefactor of the Center for Justice and Accountability for victims of torture, among others. In honor of her tremendous support, the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies at the UC Hastings College of the Law created the The Judith Stronach Women's Rights Fellowship. She was active in the Buddhist Peace Fellowship, and wrote articles and essays on peace and reconciliation, both domestically and internationally. She was also a published poet.
Stronach was also a scholar who loved art and literature, clearly believing that the written word could help change people's lives and make the world a better place. She founded the Judith Stronach Prize for Poetry and Prose for re-entering students at the University of California at Berkeley, and sponsored the V-World Poetry Contest, an international competition that is part of Eve Ensler's V-Day campaign to end violence around the world.
She taught children about poetry and environmental and social justice in schools and at the Berkeley Friends Meeting. The JLS Memorial Lectures on the teaching of poetry are an annual event at the University of California, Berkeley.
In addition, the Judith Lee Stronach Baccalaureate Prize is open to all UC Berkeley undergraduates. The Berkeley Prize Essay and Travel Fellowship is open to undergraduate students of architecture worldwide.
