From a six-time Olympic medalist to the author of the beloved children’s classic “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day,” the National Women’s Hall of Fame in Upstate NY has announced its 2026 inductees.
More than 10 women will be honored during a ceremony Sept. 24 at the George Eastman Museum in Rochester. The Hall selects its annual class through public nominations and from candidates who deferred induction from previous cycles. It recognizes women—both historical and contemporary—whose impact spans national and global achievement across a wide range of fields.
The 2026 inductees are:
Edith S. Green — Longtime Oregon congresswoman known as “Mrs. Education” and the “Mother of Title IX” for shaping major federal education laws.
Virginia Hall Goillot — Legendary World War II spy who worked with the French Resistance and later became the CIA’s first female operations officer.
Harriet Jacobs — Formerly enslaved writer who authored “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” and later became an abolitionist and Civil War relief advocate.
Dr. Georgeanna Emory Seegar Jones — Pioneering reproductive endocrinologist who helped launch the first U.S. IVF program, leading to the nation’s first successful IVF birth.
Jackie Joyner-Kersee — Six-time Olympic medalist and track-and-field legend known for her record-setting heptathlon career and long-running youth and community foundation work.
Audre Lorde — Influential poet, essayist and activist whose work explored race, gender, sexuality and justice. She was deeply engaged in movements for civil rights, feminism, and LGBTQ+ equality.
Adele Smith Simmons — Global philanthropy leader and former president of the MacArthur Foundation who advanced sustainability, security and international development initiatives.
S. Mona Sinha — CEO of Equality Now, leading global efforts to reform discriminatory laws and expand legal protections for women and girls.
Marie Tharp — Groundbreaking oceanographic cartographer whose maps of the seafloor helped confirm the existence of underwater canyons, ridges, and mountains and transformed Earth science.
Judith Viorst — Best-selling author of “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day” and numerous works on psychology, aging and everyday life, including her bestselling book “Necessary Losses.”
Janet L. Yellen — Economist who served as U.S. Treasury Secretary, Federal Reserve chair and Council of Economic Advisers chair — the only person to lead all three.
The National Women’s Hall of Fame is located in Seneca Falls, the birthplace of the women’s rights movement. The Finger Lakes museum honors women whose courage, innovation and leadership have changed the world.
The Hall plans to begin accepting nominations for the 2028 induction cycle in early 2027.
