[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 151 (Wednesday, November 20, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11729-S11730]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    THE LIFE OF JANET ADAMS VIGGIANI

 Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to the 
late Janet Adams Viggiani--a native of Connecticut. I have known the 
Viggiani family for many years as residents of our native State, as 
neighbors in East Haddam, and as friends. Janet became a strong 
advocate for the public interest, an accomplished attorney, and an 
educator,

[[Page S11730]]

who dedicated her professional life to helping young people and to 
making our Nation a more just and equitable land.
  Born in Middletown, CT, Janet spent her early years in the Nutmeg 
State. After graduating summa cum laude from Smith College, she began 
what would become a lifetime of work motivated by a deep desire to 
serve others, particularly those who struggled mightily to overcome 
enormous adversity in their lives--such as illness, criminal abuse, and 
discrimination. She worked for the Nine To Five Organization for Women 
Workers in Boston and for Brigham and Women's Hospital. She cofounded 
the Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group, which has done so 
much to protect the rights and interests of working families. She also 
cofounded the New England Sexual Assault Network, which provided 
support for victims of some of society's most heinous crimes. Janet 
became assistant director of Radcliffe College's Career Services 
Center, where she provided guidance to students searching for 
meaningful careers. While working for her doctorate at the Harvard 
School of Education, Janet was named an assistant dean at Harvard 
College in 1988. She spent 3 years advising the college administration 
on sexual harassment, sexual assault, tutor training, and gender 
equality issues in the classroom.
  In 1996, Janet obtained a law degree from Harvard. After working on a 
variety of employment discrimination cases in the private sector, Janet 
was able to combine her love of law and education by taking a position 
at Simmons College, where she served as a legal counsel to the 
president. In this capacity, Janet dealt with a variety of legal 
issues, including employment, gender and racial discrimination, 
intellectual property, and other student affairs.
  Janet was taken from us too soon, but she touched the lives of many 
people throughout her life. Her dedication to making our world a better 
place inspired many people and serves as an example for all of us to 
follow. My thoughts and prayers are with Janet's friends and family, 
particularly with her parents, Carl and Jane of East Haddam, CT, her 
sister Frances, and her brother Carl. She will be deeply missed by all 
who knew her.
  Mr. President, I would like to submit for the Record an article 
written about Janet that appeared several days ago in the Middletown 
Press.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                             Janet Viggiani

       Janet Adams Viggiani, a lawyer, educator, human rights 
     advocate and former assistant dean for coeducation at Harvard 
     College, died at her home in Mancos, Colorado on Friday, 
     November 8, after a long illness. She was 48.
       A co-founder of Massachusetts PIRG (Public Interest 
     Research Group) and the New England Sexual Assault Network, 
     she was named assistant dean at Harvard College in 1988 while 
     working for her doctorate at the Harvard School of Education. 
     As a dean, she dealt with issues of concern to women, sexual 
     harassment and assault, training of teaching fellows and 
     resident tutors in related matters, and advising the dean of 
     the college and the Harvard administrative board on policy 
     and procedure in these areas.
       She was born in Middletown, Conn. October 15 1954, the 
     second child of Jane Mead Viggiani and Carl A. Viggiani, 
     professor of Romance languages and literature at Wesleyan 
     University. She spent her young years in nearby Middle Haddam 
     and attended East Hampton High School, where her career in 
     law was foreshadowed by her passionate public defense of 
     Black students unjustly accused of provoking violence in a 
     racial dispute. She completed high school at the Buxton 
     School in Mass.
       After graduating from Smith College summa cum laude in 
     1978, she worked for the Nine-to-Five Organization for Women 
     Workers in Boston, for Brigham and Women's Hospital and for 
     Radcliffe Career Services as a counselor and then assistant 
     director.
       At Harvard, in addition to her deanship, she held the post 
     of Allston Burr Senior Tutor of the college's Adams House, 
     where she was responsible for many aspects of the lives and 
     studies of 420 Harvard undergraduates.
       In 1991, she received the degree of doctor education from 
     Harvard. However, the same year marked the onset of a cancer 
     that was to recur. Not knowing what the future held, she 
     bought a car and traveled across America for almost a year.
       In the fall of 1993, with the cancer in remission, she 
     began a new career by entering Harvard Law School. She 
     received her law degree in 1996, passed the state bar, and 
     took a job with the Boston law firm of Hill & Barlow, where 
     she specialized in discrimination and employment law.
       In 1999, she accepted an invitation from Simmons College 
     President Daniel Cheever to come to Simmons as the college 
     counsel and assistant to the president. In the educational 
     environment she enjoyed, she dealt with a wide range of legal 
     issues ranging from employment, student affairs and 
     intellectual property, to probate and criminal law.
       In her year of travel across the country, she had 
     discovered the peace and beauty of the southwest corner of 
     Colorado. When the recurrence of cancer forced her retirement 
     from Simmons in 2001, she returned to that area and rented a 
     house in a pine forest where she spent her last year. She 
     remained active until the final weeks of her life, even 
     hiking at 13,000 feet in the nearby Rockies.
       She is survived by her parents, of East Haddam; a sister, 
     Frances A. Viggiani of Brooklyn, New York; and a brother, 
     Carl A. Viggiani, Jr. of White Plains, New York.

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