Ives Earns Lifetime Achievement Award
The St. Mary’s County Commission for Women is pleased to honor Barbara Ives with the 2022 Ruth Bader Ginsberg Lifetime Achievement Award.
Ms. Ives, like Justice Ginsburg, moved through uncharted waters with tenacity and determination to demonstrate women have always set the standard of excellence while providing opportunities and an example for others to follow. After earning a congressional appointment to the US Naval Academy, in the first class to include women in service academy history, she graduated with honors and was commissioned as a naval officer.
She served for more than six years on active duty with a meteorology and oceanography specialty and then transitioned to the Naval Reserve, where she served 27 years attaining the rank of captain. In addition, she continued her education and pursued a career in academia.
Her family transferred to Naval Air Station Patuxent River in 2001, and she began teaching at St. Mary’s Ryken High School in Leonardtown. She earned numerous awards during her tenure there, including the National Honor Roll Outstanding American Teacher. In July 2008, Ms. Ives was selected as dean of academics for St. Mary’s Ryken and quickly developed and implemented several innovative and highly effective academic and leadership programs.
She also founded and served as the director of the Individual Augmentee Spouse Support Group (IASSG), an organization designed to support the spouses and families of Individual Augmentees (service members serving overseas fighting the Global War on Terror). She was awarded the Maryland Governor’s Volunteer Service Award for her achievements with this model program and was presented the Department of the Navy Meritorious Public Service Award for her support of over 450 spouses and their families.
In October 2015, Ms. Ives was selected as the director of strategic partnerships for the College of Southern Maryland. In this position, she worked closely with Southern Maryland schools, business and defense industries, military and nonprofit organizations to establish or enhance relationships to support the college.
In January 2018, Ms. Ives was selected as the interim College of Southern Maryland vice president and dean at Prince Frederick campus, responsible for supervising college administration and overseeing college operations. Later that same year, she assumed a full-time role at GI Enterprises in educational consulting to support grant, educational management, and leadership training needs.
Ms. Ives provides education consulting services to the Southern Maryland region to include schools and the Navy.
She serves with numerous community organizations, but she most enjoys her work with the Lexington Park Rotary Club and Christmas in April.
“I have found my greatest joy comes from helping others and community service offers opportunities to do just that,” she said.
Do you know an exceptional woman in St. Mary’s County?
The St. Mary’s County Commission for Women is still accepting nominations for Tomorrow’s Woman and the Woman of the Year. This is a wonderful way to recognize the amazing women in our community and a fantastic fundraiser for the Jane Hale Sypher Scholarship Fund.
For more information, click here.
