MMC Remembers Geraldine A. Ferraro ‘56

New York, N.Y. - As the first woman ever to be nominated by a major party ticket for vice president of the United States, Geraldine Ferraro ’56 built a lasting and important legacy as a national icon for women inspired to enter the world of politics and public service. 

On March 26, 2011, Geraldine Anne Ferraro Zaccaro passed away at the age of 75, due to complications from multiple myeloma, a blood cancer she battled for 12 years. 

She earned a bachelor’s degree in English at Marymount Manhattan College in 1956. Then, while working as an elementary teacher by day, Ferraro put herself through law school at night, earning a law degree from Fordham University in 1960. 

After working as a prosecutor in the Queens County District Attorney’s office, she was elected to the House of Representatives from New York’s Ninth Congressional District in Queens in 1978. 

In 1984, Ferraro ran for the vice presidency alongside presidential candidate Walter Mondale. The Mondale-Ferraro team was defeated by Republican incumbents President Ronald Reagan and Vice President George H.W. Bush. 

Since her run for the vice presidency and throughout her career as a public figure and political advocate, Ferraro remained loyal to Marymount Manhattan. In 2006, Ferraro celebrated her 50th reunion and was awarded the Pere Gailhac Award, which is given annually to a graduate who has demonstrated continuous service to the College. 

In 1990, Ferraro established a scholarship in memory of her mother Antonetta Ferraro. The scholarship has been awarded to 25 Marymount Manhattan students. 

In 2007, Marymount Manhattan presented Ferraro with the President’s Medal. Established in 1984, the President’s Medal recognizes outstanding individuals who have distinguished themselves through service in their professions and communities. 

One of Ferraro’s last visits to the College was on June 12, 2009, when she was the keynote speaker for the “Dialogue In/As Action” conference, which was hosted by The Network for Peace Through Dialogue in collaboration with Marymount Manhattan. 

The interview, which took place in the Theresa Lang Theatre, provided audience members with an opportunity to learn about the art of dialogue through Ferraro’s personal experience in politics and everyday life. Ferraro, an attorney and a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, spoke candidly about her experience visiting foreign countries. 

“Dialogue was key, and still is, to understanding political matters and reaching an agreement where both parties are happy,” she said in the interview. Ferraro served as a U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights from 1993 to 1996. 

In 2010, the Division of the Sciences at Marymount Manhattan was included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2010 as the recipient of a Congressionally-directed grant of $400,000. The congressional intention of this award was presented as an investment in academic programs at the College’s Geraldine Ferraro Center for Education Excellence in Science, Technology, and Math. The center, established to honor Ferraro, seeks to expand student exposure to a broad range of laboratory and clinical experiences by increasing the number of Marymount Manhattan students engaged in faculty-mentored research activities on campus. 

The Thomas J. Shanahan Library, located at Marymount Manhattan is home to the Geraldine Ferraro Papers, a collection of written works by Ferraro including various speeches from 1979 to 2008; and letters in support of various causes she advocated. 

Ferraro was married to real estate businessman John Zaccaro. During their 50-year marriage, they had three children. She is survived by her husband, her three children—Donna, John Jr. and Laura—and their spouses, and eight grandchildren. 

Marymount Manhattan College is an urban, independent, liberal arts college. The mission of the College is to educate a socially and economically diverse student body by fostering intellectual achievement and personal growth and by providing opportunities for career development.

Published: March 28, 2011