The University of Louisville was founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States. The university is known for many things–from its outstanding medical research and successful athletic programs to its stellar alumni including Hall of Fame quarterback Johnny Unitas. A statue of Unitas stands in the Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium — football players touch it before running onto the field.
But Louisville has also graduated a number of notable female alumnae. ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer, ‘alphabet series’ detective novelist Sue Grafton, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Marsha Norman (’night Mother), novelist Harriette Simpson Arnow (aka H.L Simpson) and explorer Victoria “Tori” Murden, who was the first woman and the first American to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean, which she did in 1999–these are all Louisville women. Murden was also the first woman and first American to ski to the geographic South Pole.
–title note: yes, all alumnae are female, but a headline should help people out!
