Honoree Profile: Marcia D. Greenberger

Marcia D. Greenberger, cited by the New York Times as "guiding the battles of the women's rights movement," is the founder and co-president of the National Women's Law Center. The creation of the Center in 1972 established her as the first full-time women's rights legal advocate in Washington,DC.

A recognized expert on sex discrimination and the law, Greenberger has participated in the development of key legislative initiatives and litigation protecting women's rights, particularly in the areas of education, employment, family economic security, health and reproductive rights. For example, she was a leader in the passage of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978; the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987, which restored Title IX to full coverage, including athletics; the Civil Rights Act of 1991, providing key protections, including against sexual harassment on the job; and the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act of 1994.

Greenberger has also been counsel in landmark litigation. Her first case,which dealt with the G.E. policy to exclude pregnancy from disability coverage, not only resulted in the Pregnancy Discrimination Act but also the EEOC's 2000 decision that employers must cover prescription contraceptives in their drug benefit plans. Early cases include WEAL v. Richardson, brought in 1974, requiring Title IX enforcement; the first broad-based Title IX athletics case in 1978; protections against involuntary sterilization of poor women in 1974; nationwide goals for women in construction in 1976; and more recently Title IX Supreme Court wins in 1999 protecting students against harassment and 2005 protecting employees against retaliation.

Greenberger has been recognized by Working Woman Magazine as one of the 25 heroes whose activities over 25 years have helped women in the workplace, and by Washingtonian Magazine as one of Washington, DC's most powerful women and one of its top lawyers. The University of Pennsylvania Law School recognized her achievement with its Alumni Award of Merit. In 1996 she received the Woman Lawyer of the Year Award by the DC Women's Bar Association, an award from the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association, and many others.

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