BETHANY, W.Va. – Bethany College’s Women and Leadership Weekend has been named the Ann Wilkin Trombadore Women and Leadership Weekend in honor of one of Bethany’s distinguished alumni.
This educational weekend has again been made possible by the leadership and generosity of Bethany College Trustee and alumna Scarlett Foster ’79, retired corporate officer and Vice President of Investor Relations at Monsanto Company. After 27 years with the company, she retired in 2009 and has since focused on mentoring women in business and serving as a strategic advisor to firms in the agricultural industry.
“Ann was an inspirational leader and a passionate mentor to women in all walks of life,” said Foster. “In naming this weekend for her, her legacy and devotion to Bethany College live on through the women who follow in her footsteps from the classrooms of Old Main to the courtrooms, boardrooms and like places of their professional pursuits. Every woman attending the Women and Leadership Weekend — and me in particular — has Ann to thank for blazing a path for them.”
A native of Wheeling, W.Va., Ann Wilkin Trombadore grew up in Wellsburg, W.Va. She graduated magna cum laude from Bethany with a degree in economics in 1951 and received her law degree from the University of Michigan in 1954. She married fellow law student Raymond Trombadore in 1954. Together, they founded the law firm of Raymond R. and Ann W. Trombadore in Somerville, N.J. in 1965 and raised six children.
“Ann continues to inspire many of us today, casting a long and warm shadow, influencing how we think and act as business and community leaders in our own towns, how we strike out paths as stewards and mentors of other generations,” said son, J. Thomas Trombadore. “Ann mentored and encouraged so many of her colleagues and professionals and particularly women — scores of them in fact.”
Ann and her sister Mary Wilkin Bell ’44 carried on the Bethany tradition established by her parents Judge William S. Wilkin ’12 and Helen Porter Wilkin ’21. Her son J. William Trombadore also graduated from Bethany College in 1978. Ann was appointed to the College’s Board of Trustees in May 1977, and was an active Trustee for more than two decades. She was the recipient of the Distinguished Service to Alma Mater award in 1996 and was made an Emeritus Life Trustee member following the 1998-99 school year.
In addition to her work with the College, Ann was a member of the American Bar Association, the New Jersey State Bar Association and the Somerset County Bar Association. Ann was active in her community, serving on the Bound Brook Board of Education; on the Library Commission of the Bound Brook Public Library; and as a member and officer of Zonta and PEO. She was an active member of the Bound Brook Presbyterian Church for 47 years and served as elder and deacon.
The weekend will be comprised of multiple leadership events, which will be held April 8 and 9 on campus. These invitation-only events feature nationally recognized speakers and prominent Bethany alumnae, and give female students the opportunity to network and further their leadership aspirations.
To kick off the weekend, the Women’s Leaders Recognition Dinner will take place Friday evening with the recognition of female students who have become leaders on campus. On Saturday, a Women and Leadership panel will be held during brunch. Career skills workshops, focusing on resume building and interviewing, will take place after the panel. The weekend will conclude with a networking reception for the students with alumnae.
About Bethany College
Bethany College is a small college of national distinction located on a picturesque and historic 1,300-acre campus in the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia. Founded in 1840, Bethany is the state’s oldest private college.
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