The Women’s Forum, a community of preeminent female leaders in New York, bestowed their prestigious educational award on 10 women this past September, including three students from Lehman College.
The award is given to women who show a promising future through their dedication to education.
Wanda Vargas, one of the three recipients from Lehman College, overcame great personal odds to pursue her dream. The forum recognized Vargas’ determination and perseverance for overcoming several obstacles. An unstable and abusive childhood led her to sever any and all ties with her family at an early age.
A Bronx native, Vargas grew up fascinated with volcanoes, earthquakes, glaciers and most natural wonders.
After a 13-year absence from college, Vargas returned to finish her undergraduate degree at Lehman. Vargas is now pursuing a degree in marine geophysics and hopes to further understand deadly geophysical events, like volcano eruptions and earthquakes, so she can help develop better warning systems and evacuation procedures, hopefully preventing high death tolls in the future.
In addition to Vargas, Lehman students Judy Canstrelli and Charlene Corbett-Tosi received the award.

