Dawn Marie Simms, ’72, a passionate champion of Mills, had many interests that were nurtured at Mills.
The SIMMS Foundation has established an endowed scholarship at Mills College, the Dawn Marie Simms Scholarship Fund. Each year, one or more merit scholarships will be awarded from the Fund to entering fall term students at Mills College.
Dawn Marie Simms, ’72, who passed away in 1999, was pro-education, pro-women, and an advocate for the strike in 1990 to keep Mills a college for women. She was also committed to her volunteer work as a Mills admissions representative in Nevada. Her widower, Dr. Robert Grzywacz, said, “There wasn’t a year that went by that she didn’t contribute to the College”. He describes her as a multi-faceted “renaissance woman”. After graduating from Mills, Dawn pursued studies in food history and technique in Europe. She applied her interest in chemistry, history, art, and social sciences to classes she taught in cooking technique, attended by students who later became chefs in top Bay Area restaurants. Later, she took on a management role in Robert’s medical practice and was active in an international organization of leading chefs.
In Dawn’s memory, according to the wishes of the The SIMMS Foundation, Dean’s Scholarships will be supported in part by the Dawn Marie Simms Scholarship Fund. The College proposes listing the Fund in the Mills College catalogue as an underwriter of the Dean’s Scholarships.