SBU's Woman of Promise

St. Bonaventure University’s Russell J. Jandoli School of Journalism and Mass Communication named senior Jennifer Sherman as the recipient of the 2009 Dr. Mary A. Hamilton Woman of Promise Award.

St. Bonaventure’s Woman of Promise Award is presented to a female senior who excels in and out of the classroom and sets a good example for her peers. Sherman, a double major in journalism and mass communication and political science, is involved with several on- and off-campus activities and has worked in several prestigious internships, including at The White House.

The awards presentation will be at 4 p.m. March 19 in Walsh Auditorium of the William F. Walsh Science Center. Janet Bodnar, ’71, editor of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine, will serve as the keynote speaker.

Throughout her career, Bodnar has written about a wide range of topics on investing, money management and the economy. In addition, she has been editor of Success With Your Money, a special Kiplinger publication.

Bodnar is a nationally recognized expert in the field of children’s and family finances and has written several books about finance. “Raising Money Smart Kids” (Kaplan) was a finalist in the personal finance category of the Books for a Better Life awards. It was also a selection of the Washington Post’s Color of Money book club. Her latest book is “Money Smart Women: Everything You Need to Know to Achieve a Lifetime of Financial Security” (Kaplan).


Time magazine noted that Bodnar “avoids the patronizing finger wagging and sticks to giving advice that women can really use.” She speaks frequently on the subject of women and money.

Bodnar’s “Money-Smart Kids” column appears regularly in Kiplinger’s magazine and at www.kiplinger.com/columns/kids . It was chosen by Moneysmartz.com as one of the top financial columns online.

Bodnar has done hundreds of radio and television interviews, including “Oprah” and CNN. She has been quoted in publications ranging from The Wall Street Journal to Parents and Glamour.

Bodnar has been recognized by American University for excellence in personal finance reporting, and by the National Council on Family Relations for her televised reports on children and money.

Prior to joining Kiplinger’s, Bodnar worked for The Providence Journal and The Washington Post. A graduate of St. Bonaventure, she received her master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University, where she was also a Knight-Bagehot Fellow in Business and Economics Journalism.

Married, she is the mother of three children.

The Woman of Promise Award is presented to a student who, in the faculty’s opinion, possesses all the skills necessary to not only succeed but thrive in her post-graduate career. Sherman is certainly no exception.

Sherman interned with then-Congressman Tom Reynolds (R-26) in the summer of 2006. The following summer, she enrolled in SBU’s Francis E. Kelley Oxford program hosted by Oxford University’s Somerville College.

Last spring, Sherman spent her semester as a White House intern in the Office of Presidential Correspondence where she wrote presidential messages and helped prepare information for thank-you letters from President Bush. In January, she attended the inauguration of President Barack Obama as part of the Presidential Inauguration series through The Washington Center.

Throughout her four years at St. Bonaventure, Sherman has been active in several on-campus media organizations and clubs, including writing for The Bona Venture and The Communicator. She has worked in the journalism and mass communication office since her sophomore year and has been a member of the Public Relations Society of America. In August 2005, she was named Young Achiever of the Month by Buffalo’s WIVB-TV, Channel 4 News.

She is the daughter of Dave and Cindy Sherman of Williamsville, N.Y. As an active community member, she has served the Town of Amherst in several community programs.

Sherman says she is thankful for the outstanding guidance and support from the journalism and mass communication faculty and staff, adding that she would not be where she is today without them. After graduation, she plans to work in Washington, D.C., or intern abroad.

The Woman of Promise Award is named in honor of Dr. Mary A. Hamilton, a retired associate professor of journalism and mass communication at St. Bonaventure. A 1959 Bona grad, Hamilton returned in 1982 as a faculty member and also served as chair of the then journalism department.

An expert in media law and women’s contributions to the media, Hamilton worked as a reporter and editor in New York City, Washington, D.C., and York, Pa., and helped develop a public relations program for the Center for Constitutional Rights. She holds a doctorate from Michigan State University and recently published a biography titled “Rising from the Wilderness: J.W. Gitt and His Legendary Newspaper: The Gazette and Daily of York, Pa.” that won the American Journalism Historians Award for Best Book in Media History published in 2007.