Women of Distinction Award Gala 2010

Pacific Northwest Region friends celebrated 2010 Women of Distinction, Robbie Cohn, Yahli Lorch and Ruthellen Toole at a festive award reception and dinner, March 7 at the Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco. The esteemed honorees were recognized for their significant impact in their local communities and on behalf of the State of Israel, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the global Jewish community.

Gala committee co-chairs for the event, which raised support for student scholarships at Hebrew University, were: Bobbi Cohen, Len Cohn, Claudia Felson, Esther Levandoski, David Toole, and Elysa Yanowitz.  The evening's distinguished guest speakers, Claire Shipman, Senior National Correspondent for ABC News/"Good Morning America," and Ambassador Gabriela Shalev, discussed contemporary issues.

Robbie Cohen is an active Pacific Northwest Region board member. She holds the distinction of being the first woman president of Sinai Memorial Chapel of the Bay Area. Yahli Lorch is a Hebrew University alumna and an Associate Professor of Structural Biology at Stanford University. Each summer, she and her family conduct research at the Hebrew University.  Philadelphia native Ruthellen Toole is a Pacific  Northwest Region board member and AFHU Board of Regents member.  She was one of the first women to work in computer and database management in the 1960s, and later cultivated a successful career in data management.

• Women of Distinction Award Gala (01)

  
  Credit: Jesse Freidin
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  Honoree Robbie Cohn  

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  Credit: Jessie Freidin
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  Honoree Yahli Lorch

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  Credit: Jesse Freidin
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  Honoree Ruthellen Toole

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  Credit: Jesse Freidin
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  ABC News/ "Good Morning America" Senior Correspondent Claire Shipman and Ambassador Gabriela Shalev discuss contemporary affairs.

• Women of Distinction Award Gala (05)

  
  Credit: Jesse Freidin
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  Eric C. Stein, Pacific Northwest Region president, addresses guests at the Women of Distinction Gala.

• Women of Distinction Award Gala (06)

  
  Credit: Jesse Freidin
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  Guests at the gala, Robin Bloch, Todd Cohen and Andy Bloch

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  Credit: Jesse Freidin
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  Claire Shipman, Ambassador Gabriela Shalev and Akiva Tor, Consul General of Israel for the Pacific Northwest Region, enjoying the evening.

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  Credit: Jesse Freidin
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  Women of Distinction honorees, Ruthellen Toole, Robbie Cohn and Yahli Lorch

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  Credit: Jesse Freidin
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  Herb Yanowitz and Marshall Yanowitz with Women of Distinction co-chair, Elysa Yanowitz.