Frederica M. Williams, president and CEO of Whittier Street Health Center, a community health center with a mission to serve as a center of excellence that provides high-quality and accessible healthcare and social services that achieve health equity, social justice, and the economic well-being of a diverse patient population, has been named the recipient of the 2020 Dean Michael Shinagel Award for Service to Others from the Harvard Extension Alumni Association.
The award, presented on May 24 at the 41st Annual Harvard Extension Alumni Banquet, is named in honor of Michael Shinagel, the former dean of the Division of Continuing Education and University Extension at Harvard University and the longest serving dean in Harvard’s history.
“I am deeply grateful to receive an award named in honor of Dean Shinagel who served as our dean during my years at the Extension School and who consistently demonstrated effective leadership and a deep commitment to creating educational opportunities for others,” said Williams, who received a graduate certificate at Harvard Extension before going on to earn an MBA from Anna Maria College.
In accepting the honor, Williams noted “being of service to others has been my highest purpose in life” and that the prestigious award “is an additional call to action to continue my commitment to expand, grow, share, and build on the values that I believe in.”