Mary Cunningham Agee

Mary Agee

Mary Cunningham Agee (born 1951 in Falmouth, Maine) is an American business executive and author.^[1] She served in the top management of two Fortune 100 companies in the 1980s, one of the first women to do so, and was twice voted one of the “25 Most Influential Women in America” by World Almanac 1981 and 1982.^[2][3] Agee is a Managing Partner of the Semper Charitable Foundation^[4] and CEO of the family’s boutique wine business, Aurea Estate Wines, Inc.

Agee is Founder and CEO of The Nurturing Network, (TNN) an international charitable organization that provides an alternative to abortion for women facing unplanned pregnancy. She is a counselor to TNN clients and a motivational speaker.^[5][6][7]

Early years

Cunningham was born in Portland, Maine to Irish-American parents. When she was five years old, her parents separated. Her mother moved her four children to Hanover, New Hampshire where a relative, Monsignor William “Father Bill” Nolan, who was chaplain at Dartmouth College^[8][9] offered paternal support for the family.^{[10] [11][5]}

Education

Cunningham graduated from Hanover High School in 1969. She worked summers on Cape Cod as a short order cook and as a bank teller to supplement her college tuition scholarship. Her family could not afford an Ivy League college so she enrolled at Newton College of the Sacred Heart (now merged with Boston College) in Newton, Massachusetts and was elected Class President. She was awarded a full academic scholarship to attend Wellesley College where she transferred for her sophomore year. She won a Slater Fellowship to study law and ethics at Trinity College, Dublin for her junior year abroad and received two Danforth Nominations to continue her studies in ethics and moral philosophy at the graduate level. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude from Wellesley in 1973 with B.A. in logic and philosophy.^[12]

She graduated in 1979 from the Harvard Business School with an MBA in Finance & International Business. The HBS Dean referred to Cunningham having the "best chance of being the first female graduate of the Business School to become chairman of a non-cosmetic company".^[13][14][15]

Career

Cunningham was employed on Wall Street in the Corporate Banking Department of the Chase Manhattan Bank and in the Corporate Finance Department of Salomon Brothers. On graduation from Harvard Business School, she accepted a management position as Executive Assistant to the CEO of the Bendix Corporation, William Agee.^[16][1][17]

She was promoted to Vice President of Strategic Planning at Bendix.^[18]Following contention, Cunningham resigned on October 8, 1980.^{[16][19][10][20][10]}Stanford University Business School made Cunningham’s experience a case study in its course, “Power and Politics in Organizations.” ^{[21] [22]}

Following her departure from Bendix, Cunningham accepted the position of Vice President of Strategic Planning at Joseph E. Seagram and Sons where she reported to both President, Phil Beekman, and CEO, Edgar Bronfman Sr. ^[21][17] Within a year, she was promoted to Executive Vice President of the newly formed Seagram Wine Company overseeing the development and implementation of Seagram's worldwide wine strategy.^[22][20][10] In June 1982, nearly two years after leaving Bendix, Cunningham married William Agee. They moved to Cape Cod where she had spent most of her summers since childhood. Agee lives in the Napa Valley with her husband, Bill Agee. She is the mother of two children – Mary Alana, and Will Agee.

The Nurturing Network

Main article: The Nurturing Network

Agee lost her first child, Angela Grace, in a late trimester miscarriage in January, 1984. ^[23][5] This caused Agee to investigate the availability of resources for women whose pregnancies end through abortion due to lack of economic, educational or social support.^[24][25]Agee then decided to create the Nurturing Network. The Agees sold their vacation home for start-up funds and The Nurturing Network opened its doors, providing women with access to resources, counseling and advice.^[26] Agee's role at TNN includes writing and motivational speaking.^[27]

Agee was an early advocate of establishing a common ground in the debate over abortion.^{[28][29] [30]} Peter Jennings noted Agee's common ground position in his report, "The Next Civil War" on ABC News Forum. ^[31]

Agee's book, Compassion in Action,^[32] presents her story of the Network's program over 20 years. Her work has been featured^[33] in publications such as the Wall Street Journal,^[34][35] Reader's Digest,^[36]US News and World Report,^[37] The Washington Post,^[38] and Good Housekeeping,^{[39] [40][41]} and she has been profiled on American radio and television programs such as CBS' 48 Hours,^[42] and James Dobson’s Focus on the Family.^[43]

Affiliations

Agee has served on the boards of First Women’s Bank of New York, the Catholic Schools Foundation in Boston, the Gregorian Foundation, The Graduate School of Business at University College Dublin, the Culture of Life Foundation, Loyola College in Maryland and the National Council for Adoption. She is a founding member of the Napa Valley Chapter of Legatus. Agee currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Hoffman Institute and the Board of Overseers for the Aquinas House at Dartmouth College. She is a member of the Advisory Council of the Hoover Institution and the Board of Governors of the Council for National Policy.^[12]

Awards and honors

Agee has received honorary doctorates from Franciscan University, Loyola College, Stonehill College, Franklin Pierce College, Chestnut Hill College, Notre Dame College and the Dominican School of Philosophy & Theology at Berkeley. ^[12]

In the 1980s, Good Housekeeping voted Agee in their 100th Anniversary Edition as one of "100 Young Women of Promise" and she was included among the YWCA's Academy of Women Achievers. ^[44]Her business awards include the inaugural Ambassador of the Year Award from Legatus,^[45]the ITV Woman of the Year Award from the Archdiocese of New York, the John Paul II Award from the Institute for the Psychological Sciences, the Ex corde Ecclesiae Award from the Cardinal Newman Society,^[46] the Citizen of the Year Award from the Idaho Family Forum, Pro-Vita Award from the Archdiocese of Brooklyn, the Archbishop John Hughes Award and the James Keller Award from The Christophers.^[12] She was chosen by Cambridge Who’s Who as “Entrepreneur of the Year” for the Not-For-Profit-Sector in 2009.^[12]

Agee also received the Freedom Award from Provo, Utah, the Economic Equity Award from the Women's Equity Action League, the Humanitarian Lifetime Award from the Wisdom Institute, the Centennial Medal of Honor from the Columbus School of Law at Catholic University of America, and a national award by the members of the U.S. Senate and Childhelp USA.^[12]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Powerplay: What Really Happened at Bendix, Mary Cunningham Agee, Simon Schuster, 1984
2. ^ The World Almanac and Book of Facts, Infobase Publishing, New York, NY, 1981
3. ^ The World Almanac and Book of Facts, Infobase Publishing, New York, NY, 1982
4. ^ The Catholic Funding Guide - A Directory of Resources for Catholic Activities, FADICA, 4th Edition, 2005
5. ^ ^{a b c} A Practical Compassion, Deirdre Frontczak, North Coast Catholic, Diocese of Santa Rosa, April 2011, pp 7-11
6. ^ "A Dream on Canvas", Stacy Mattingly, Crisis Magazine, The Morley Institute, 1996
7. ^ Compassion in Action – Maternal Profiles in Courage,” Mary Cunningham Agee, Cypress Press, 2006
8. ^ Chaplain at Dartmouth College
9. ^ William Liguori Nolan, Inside Catholic, George Rutler, September 2, 2007
10. ^ ^{a b c d} "A Bendix Vice-President Faces Down Gossips Who Joke of Executive Sweets" People, Julie Greenwalt, Jon Keller Vol.14, No. 16., October 20, 1980
11. ^ American Women Activists’ Writings - An Anthology, 1637-2002, Kathryn Cullen-DuPont, Cooper Square Press, 2002 pages 544-556
12. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Cambridge Who's Who Registry - Executive & Professional Biographies, 2009 Edition
13. ^ "Mary Cunningham's Quiet Triumph", Detroit Free Press - Business Monday, January 11, 1993
14. ^ Powerplay: What Really Happened at Bendix, Mary Cunningham Agee, Simon Schuster, 1984, p13
15. ^ Managing Markets in the 21st Century, Noel Capon, Wessex Publishing, 2007
16. ^ ^{a b} "Business: Bendix Abuzz", Time, October 6, 1980
17. ^ ^{a b} Mary Agee, USNews & World Report, Megan Barnett, February 28, 2005
18. ^ "On Language; Perils of the Fast Track Vetting", William Safire, New York Times, November 2, 1980
19. ^ "Bendix Backs Executive: Says She'll Stay in Post:, Phillip H. Wiggins, New York Times, September 30, 1980
20. ^ ^{a b} "Mary Cunningham", Julie Greenwalt, People, Vol.14, No. 26, December 29, 1980
21. ^ ^{a b} "Mary Cunningham", Redux, Time, March 9, 1981
22. ^ ^{a b} Business Ethics: Concepts and Cases, Manuel G. Velasquez, Prentis Hall, 1982
23. ^ "A spiritual life helps Bendix cause celebre pursue mission," Chicago Tribune, February 28, 1993
24. ^ "Business World: A Working Woman's Network Into Motherhood", Tim W. Ferguson, The Wall Street Journal, August 4, 1990
25. ^ "Network of Hope", Una McManus, Reader's Digest, November 1991, pp 132-136
26. ^ “The Nurturing Network,” Good Housekeeping, November 1991
27. ^ "A Faith Journey: From Success to Significance", Mary Cunningham Agee, Radio interview with Dick Lyles, Catholic Business Journal, October 2009
28. ^ Mary Cunningham Agee, Pro-LIfe Christians, Joe Gulotta, Tan Books and Publishers, Inc., Rockford, IL, 1992, p 77
29. ^ Celebrating Two Decades of Compassion in Action, John Hardham, Light Wave Communications, Underwood, WA, July 2005
30. ^ "Arms Unfolded", Todd David Whitmore, The Notre Dame Magazine, Summer 2005
31. ^ The Next Civil War, ABC News Forum, Peter Jennings, November 1, 1990
32. ^ Compassion in Action – Maternal Profiles in Courage,” Mary Cunningham Agee, Cypress Press, 2006
33. ^ Powerplay: What Really Happened at Bendix, Mary Cunningham Agee, Simon Schuster, 1984, pp 11-12
34. ^ "Attacking Abortion in a Positive Way", Joseph G. Maty, The Wall Street Journal, September 18, 1990
35. ^ "Business World: A Working Woman's Network Into Motherhood", Tim W. Ferguson, The Wall Street Journal, August 4, 1990
36. ^ "Network of Hope", Una McManus, Reader's Digest, November 1991, pp 132-136
37. ^ "Mary Agee", US News and World Report, February 20, 2005, printed, February 28, 2005
38. ^ “Pro-Nurturing Alternative to Abortion,” Washington Post, July 1994
39. ^ “The Nurturing Network,” Good Housekeeping, November 1991
40. ^ ”Building a Culture of Life.” The Human Life Review, The Human Life Foundation, Inc., New York, NY, Vol. XXVIII, Nos.1 & 2, Winter / Spring 2002
41. ^ "Whole Lotta Love for Moms & Babies", Business: Mary Cunningham Agee, Pro-Family Profile, Gina Giambrone, National Catholic Register, January 14-20, 2007, B2-B2
42. ^ "CBS 48 Hours Special", August 11, 1993
43. ^ "Mary Cunningham Agee with Dr. James Dobson", Focus on the Family Radio, July 30-31, 1992
44. ^ "Bendix Ex-Aide a Hit at Lunch - Woman Who Quit Honored by Y.W.C.A.", Colleen Sullivan, New York Times, November 20, 1980
45. ^ "Ambassador of the Year", Legatus, Vol.7, No.7, March 1994
46. ^ "Mary Cunningham Agee 2001 Ex corde Ecclesiae Award Recipient," The Turnaround, The Cardinal Newman Society, Fall 2001

External links

• The Nurturing Network

Persondata
Name	Agee, Mary Cunningham
Alternative names
Short description	Business executive, author & philanthropist
Date of birth	1951
Place of birth	Falmouth, Maine
Date of death
Place of death