| 2003-04 Recipient
Mary Anne O’Callaghan Cronan ’64
 The
first woman chair of the Kentucky State Fair Board, Mary Anne
O’Callaghan Cronan ’64 is a role model for success,
family life and volunteerism. While overseeing the $40 million
annual budget for the fair board, she still finds time for
her family and volunteering for the Metro United Way and Kosair
Children’s Hospital. Her formula for success started
early in life when, at 14, she was a national horseback riding
champion. She was featured in Sports Illustrated and the Courier-Journal
as an Athlete of the Year in 1960 along side Cassius Clay
(now Muhammad Ali) and Paul Hornung.
A former elementary teacher for at-risk
students, she has helped the Junior League of Louisville,
the Louisville Chamber of Commerce and the National Center
for Family Literacy with their volunteer efforts, including
the creation of a crisis nursery for abused children and literacy
programs for businesses. She was inducted into the World Championship
Horse Show Hall of Fame in 2000 and still helps organize the
World’s Championship Horse Show, the pinnacle of a horseperson’s
career and a highlight at the Kentucky State Fair.
“I am astounded at the support and
real knowledge that I have gained through a variety of jobs
that, quite frankly, without Collegiate’s ability to
instill in me that you can do whatever you set your mind to,
I would never have attempted.”
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