Women at West Point: A Timeline of Firsts

Before West Point Admitted Women

• 1779 — Margaret (Molly) Corbin becomes the first woman to receive a military pension in the United States for her heroism and service to the country during the Revolution. She later resided in Highland Falls and her remains are today buried in the West Point cemetery.
• 1836 — The Warner Sisters come to Constitution Island. For a half century, Susan and Anna Warner wrote popular novels and taught Sunday School to West Point cadets. Susan wrote a Wide Wide World, one of the nation’s best sellers, in the 1850s. Anna wrote the words to the children’s verse “Jesus Loves Me.” They later donated the island to the United States Military Academy in 1908. The remains of both sisters lie in the West Point cemetery.
• 1957 — MAJ Emma Baird becomes Assistant Chief, Personnel Branch and is reputed to be the first woman staff officer at USMA.
• 1968 — Dr. Betsy Lewis, the Academy fine arts librarian, becomes the first female faculty member at West Point when she begins teaching art classes in the English Department to First Class cadets.
• 1973 — 1LT Virginia Fry becomes the first full-time female faculty member when she serves as a geography instructor in the Department of Earth, Space, and Graphic Sciences.
• 1975 — President Ford signs legislation opening the service academies to women applicants.
• 1975-80 — Project Athena conducted. This joint Military Academy-Army Research Institute effort was one of the nation’s first systematic studies of the integration of women into an all-male institution.

The First Class

• 1976 — 119 women become the first women cadets at West Point when they join the Class of 1980. Mrs. Sue Peterson becomes the first woman instructor in the Department of Physical Education.
• 1978 — CBS made-for-television movie “Women at West Point” airs. Maj. Nancy Freebairn becomes the first woman tactical officer. Women’s basketball team, the “Sugar Smacks,” the first women’s team to gain varsity status, finishes initial varsity year with an 18-5 record.
• 1979 — Kathy Gerard becomes the first woman Brigade Executive Officer. Col. Mildred Hedberg becomes Chief of Staff, USCC. Women’s swimming team finishes its first varsity season undefeated and captures the New York State AIAW Division B Swimming Varsity Championship.
• 1980 — 62 women graduate with the Class of 1980. Andrea Hollen, the first woman to graduate, is also the Academy’s first woman to win a Rhodes Scholarship. Terry Tepper, nationally recognized javelin thrower, wins first trophy for “most valuable service to women’s athletics” from the AAA. Maj. Cathy Kelly becomes the Academy’s first woman Permanent Associate Professor when she is named a professor in the Department of Geography and Computer Science.

The 1980s

• 1981 — Dena Caradimitropoulo is the first woman and only the sixth cadet to win the AAA Special Award for “outstanding achievements and exemplary leadership in athletic competition.” Kim Hall is the first woman to score 1,000 points in her basketball career. The Women’s Cross Country team wins the New York State Championship.
• 1983 — The Women’s Swimming Team wins the inaugural ECAC Swimming Championship.
• 1984 — Cadet Karen Short (USMA ’85 becomes the first woman Regimental Commander and the first woman to command Cadet Basic Training (CBT). Women’s basketball team wins Eastern Regional NCAA Division II title; Melody Smith is named regional Most Valuable Player (MVP). Pam Pearson is the first cadet to win all-America honors in women’s basketball. Tracy Hanlon, MVP of the women’s division indoors, and Kathy Harrison, named the “outstanding woman competitor” outdoors, led the women’s teams to a pair of Heptagonal Championships. Tracy Hanlon becomes the first woman cadet to qualify for Olympic trials. Paced by Clare Hramiec, the women’s swim team wins a second-consecutive ECAC swimming championship.
• 1985 — Cadet Lissa Young (USMA ’86) becomes the first woman Deputy Brigade Commander and the first woman to command Cadet Field Training (CFT). Women’s indoor track team wins a second-consecutive Heptagonal Championship. Marcie Seiner is named to the 1985 Academic all-America Division II team by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America. Leslie Lewis is first woman to win a Marshall Scholarship and a Phi Kappa Phi Scholarship
• 1986 — Pam Pearson becomes the first woman cadet to win All-America recognition in two sports (basketball and track). The women’s track team wins third-straight Indoor Heptagonal Championship. Rhonda Barush, captain of the rifle team, wins all-America recognition all four years. Stephanie Santanello, of the Equestrian Team, ranks sixth in open jumping nationally.
• 1987 — Capts Kathy Gerard Snook and Bobbi Fiedler‑Prinslow (both USMA ’80) become the first women graduates to serve as USMA faculty members when they both join the Department of Mathematics. Deborah Hanagan is first woman cadet to win an Olmsted Scholarship Ann Marie Wycoff wins the first national title by a woman cadet in capturing the 400-yard Individual Medley and leads the women’s swimming team to a record-breaking fifth-place finish at the NCAA Division II Championships. Kelly Pierce is a Division II Academic all-America for the second-straight year in women’s swimming. Laurie Goetz is named the “Player of the Year” in the Empire State Conference, MVP of the Metropolitan Basketball Coaches Association, and closed out her career as the second-leading scorer in women’s basketball behind Melody Smith. Teresa Sobiesk becomes the first woman cadet in cross country history to win all-America recognition. Clare Hramiec completes her cadet swimming career with seven all-Americas in breaststroke and on a medley relay.
• 1988 — Christine Siegworth is first woman cadet to win a National Science Foundation Fellowship The women’s cross country team captures ECAC and NCAA East Coast Regional Division II Championship and qualifies for its first NCAA Division I bid. Three women win All-America honors including a second for Teresa Sobiesk. Diana Wills named “Outstanding Woman Performer” at the indoor Heptagonals and later wins Division II National Championship in triple jump. Sobiesk wins Division II National Championship in the 10,000-meter run, finishes sixth in the Division I championship and qualifies for the Olympic trials. Wycoff is named the “Outstanding Female Swimmer” at the NCAA Division II Championships and becomes the first Army athlete to capture four national titles at a single championship event.
• 1989 — Capts Heidi Brown (USMA ’81) and Mary Finch (USMA ’83) become the first women graduates to serve as tactical officers. Kristin Baker becomes the first woman Brigade Commander when she is named First Captain of the U.S. Corps of Cadets (Class of 1990). 2nd Lt. Laura Slattery (USMA ’88) is the first woman to earn the title of distinguished honor graduate of the Air Assault School. Carla Miller is the first woman cadet to be named an All-America Division II in women’s soccer by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Gillian Schweitzer becomes first woman cadet to win all-Americas for diving (with success in both the one and three-meter dives). Wycoff, for the second-straight year, is named “Outstanding Women’s Swimmer” at the NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships and becomes the winningest female swimmer in NCAA Division II history, defending her national title in four events en route to her career total of nine. She will ultimately win 19 all-America recognitions. Wills wins “Outstanding Female Performer” at the Heptagonals in women’s outdoor track. Women’s softball team ranks first in the Northeast and fifth nationally in Division II; Colleen McCabe ranks first in strikeouts (210) in Division II.

The 1990s

• 1990 — Maj. Margaret Bahnsen becomes the first woman Regimental Tactical Officer (3rd Regiment), although MAJ Brenda Bradley served as an acting Regimental Tactical Officer in July 1987. Amy Bratton is the first Army woman to qualify for the NCAA Championships in tennis. Wills finishes third in the nation in the triple jump at the NCAA Division I Track and Field Championship. This was her third Division I all-America recognition and 12th all-America overall. She will compete in the triple jump at the 1996 Olympics. Led by Kathy Solomon, Shauna Hauser, and Jennifer Kelley (who won in their weight classes), the women’s powerlifting team won the national championship. Hauser is named the best female collegiate weight lifter in America for the second consecutive year. Jennifer Grzbek is Division II national champion in 200-yeard backstroke. Colleen Criscillo ends her cadet career in swimming with 11 all-America recognitions primarily in breaststroke, relay and individual medley competitions.
• 1991 — 2nd Lt. Kathleen Sherry (USMA ’89), loses her life in Operation Desert Storm. The women’s basketball team, competing at the Division I level for the first time in eight years, reaches the finals in the Patriot League and finishes second nationally in scoring defense. The women’s handball team wins the collegiate title for the third consecutive year. The women’s powerlifting team wins its third-consecutive national title. Amy Bratton is the New York Metropolitan Area Conference “Player of the Year” in women’s tennis. Colleen McCabe ends her record-breaking career with a 21-7 record, a 0.53 ERA (ninth in the nation) and the league’s “Player of the Year” her final year. Her records for strikeouts, wins and ERA are still team records.
• 1992 — Marcia Geiger is first woman cadet to win a Hertz Fellowship. The women’s volleyball team wins the Patriot league regular season title and defends its playoff championship sparked by Jen Mischler, team captain, who was named to both the all-league first team and all-tournament teams. The women’s weightlifting team wins its fourth-consecutive national title.
• 1992-93 — Capt. Margaret Belknap (USMA ’81), in the Systems Engineering department, is the first woman to serve as a White House Fellow.
• 1993 — The women’s soccer team wins the Patriot League championship for the first time.
• 1994 — Sheri Schweiker named the Patriot League’s women’s softball “Player of the Year” and is first player in league history to be selected for the first team in all four years. Tanesha Hodge is named “Outstanding Female Performer” at the Patriot League Championship and leads the Army women’s outdoor track team to its third-straight league title. The women’s judo team, sparked by national champions Becky Trojecki at 106 lbs. and Meghan Clark at 145 lbs., win the national championship for the first time. Cadets and Academy respond to inappropriate actions by several football players at a Spirit Run and win widespread recognition for dealing professionally with cases of sexual harassment. Catherine Gaffigan wins the Patriot League cross country championship for the second-consecutive year and leads the team to its first league title this year as she qualifies for the Division I championship. Holly Pedley becomes the first woman cadet soccer player to be named a second team Division I all-America.
• 1995 — Rebecca Marier, a Corps Regimental Commander, becomes the first woman valedictorian Jen Johnston, of the women’s softball team, wins one of four ECAC Awards of Valor in recognition of “a student athlete whose courage, motivation and relentless determination serves as an inspiration to all.”
• 1996 — Jennifer Oliva, who is the fourth Academy woman to win a Rhodes Scholarship, is also, along with Victoria Huse, the first Academy women to win Truman Scholarships The Army women’s team handball team is named national collegiate champion by the U.S. Team Handball Federation.
• 1997 — The Academy conducts a 20th anniversary West Point Conference on Women Cadets recommended by the DA Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS) to discuss gender issues with cadets and make recommendations on ways to improve the West Point climate for women. Lt. Cols Barbara Treharne (USMA ’80) and Heidi Brown (USMA ’81) are among four women who are selected to command air defense artillery Patriot battalions. Col. Maureen LeBoeuf is appointed Professor and Head of the Department of Physical Education becoming the first woman named head of an academic department and “Master of the Sword.” Glenda Wrenn finishes second in the hammer throw at the Junior National Track and Field Championships. Holly Pedley wins Northeast Region Division I all-America honors for the third-straight year in women’s soccer. She is the Patriot League’s offensive player of the year, a co-scholar/athlete of the year, and only the fifth player to be named an all-league first team selection all four years.
• 1999 — Alison Jones receives a Soldiers Medal for heroism for her service following the terrorist bombing of the American Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya. She becomes only the second cadet in a decade to receive this honor. Capt. Jennifer Shafer Odom (USMA ’92) gives her life to her country in a reconnaissance aircraft crash participating in anti-drug operations in Colombia. Nicki Robbins is first Army player selected to the Northeast Regional first team in women’s softball. Cadet Micala Hicks (USMA ’01) is the first female service member to graduate from the U.S. Army’s Sapper Leader Course, completing it in June 1999.

2000 and Beyond

• 2000 — Alana Jackman becomes an American Quarter Horse Association Champion. Robbins earns “Player of the Year” and Sarah Hatton wins “Pitcher of the Year” and lead the women’s softball team to its third team title and first NCAA tournament bid.
• 2001 — Susan Woo is first Academy woman to win an East/West Center Scholarship Kimberly Pienkowski becomes the first Academy woman to win a first team all-America in air rifle. Robbins wins her third league “Player of the Year” award and Shauna Evans wins “Pitcher of the Year” as they led the softball team to its fourth title, second NCAA Tournament bid, and first win in an NCAA tournament. At graduation, Robbins sets the team record in batting average, runs batted in, and home runs. Col. Ann Horner becomes the first woman Garrison Commander at West Point.
• 2002 — Jeannie Huh becomes the first Academy woman to win a Mitchell Scholarship. Lauren Rowe is the first cadet to win Patriot League “Defensive Player of the Year” award in women’s soccer and only the second to win regional first-team all-America recognition. Women’s Army Rugby (W.A.R.) team established
• 2004 — Grace Chung becomes second woman to be named First Captain of the U.S. Corps of Cadets (Class of 2004) Katie Macfarlane graduates as the Patriot League’s all-time leading rebounder in both men and women basketball and is the Army women’s basketball record-holder in scoring, rebounding and field goals. BG Rebecca Halstead (USMA ’81) becomes the first woman graduate to attain the rank of general officer. Before the end of the year, Brig. Gen. Anne MacDonald (USMA ’80) becomes a second. Michelle Weinbaum becomes first fencer in the 72-year history of the Intercollegiate Women’s Fencing Association to win three consecutive invitational titles. Capt. Anita Allen (USMA ’00), who won the gold medal in the Modern Pentathlon at the Pan American games the year before, competed in Modern Pentathlon at the Olympics and finished first in the Equestrian portion and 18th of 32 contestants overall.
• 2005 — Stephanie Hightower becomes third female First Captain of the U.S. Corps of Cadets. (Class of 2006). Khara Keegan becomes first woman to receive the “Outstanding Boxer Awards” at the 49th Brigade Boxing Open. 1st Lt. Laura Walker (USMA ’03) becomes first woman graduate to be killed in action when she gives her life for her country in Kandahar, Afghanistan. 2nd Lt. Emily Perez (USMA ’05) becomes the second woman graduate to be killed in action when she gives her life for her country in Al Kifl, Iraq.
• 2010 — This is the first time in academy history that the two top graduating cadets are women. 2nd Lt. Elizabeth Betterbed graduated with the highest accumulative cadet performance score and ranked number one in a graduating class of 1002. A mechanical engineering major, four-year letter winner and starter on the Women’s Soccer Team, Betterbed served as deputy brigade commander, the second highest leadership position among the 4,400 Corps of Cadets. Commissioned in The Corps of Engineers, Betterbed is also a Rhodes Scholar recipient. 2nd Lt. Alexandra P. Rosenberg earned the highest cumulative academic quality point average and was named the Class of 2010 Valedictorian. Rosenberg is also a Rhodes Scholar recipient.
• 2015 — 1st Lt. Shaye Haver (USMA 2012) and Capt. Kris Griest (USMA 2011) graduate US Army Ranger School, one of the Army most challenging small unit leadership development course, and earn the Ranger Tab with Class 8-15. On December 3, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter removed the final restrictions of the combat exclusion policy announcing that all military jobs and positions would open to women with no exceptions.  Liet. Gen. Nadia West (USMA ’82) is promoted and becomes the 44th Surgeon General of the Army. She is the first African American and the first female Army Surgeon General, as well as the Army’s first Black three-star lieutenant general
• 2016 — Brig. Gen. Diana Holland (USMA ’90) becomes the 76th Commandant of Cadets at the United States Military Academy becoming the first woman to serve in this leadership position. Brig. Gen. Cindy Jebb (USMA ’82) is appointed at the Dean of the Academic Board at West Point becoming the first woman to serve in this leadership position.
• 2017 — Cadet Simone Askew (USMA ’18) earns the highest cadet leadership position, First Captain, United States Corps of Cadets. This leadership role directs the entire Corps of Cadets.
• 2019 — Col. Anne McClain (USMA 02) becomes the first West Point woman to walk in space. On her first spaceflight, McClain spent 204 days as a flight engineer during Expeditions 58 and 59 and completed two spacewalks, totaling 13 hours and 8 minutes. Launching in March of 2025, McClain served as commander of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 mission, spending 146 days as a flight engineer during Expeditions 72 and 73 and completed one spacewalk, totaling 5 hours and 44 minutes..The 2019 graduating class from West Point is the most diverse in the military academy’s history.
• The 2019 cadets included black women and 223 women, both all-time highs since the first female cadets graduated in 1980. The academy graduated its 5,000th woman. The 110 African Americans who graduated were double the number from 2013. West Point officials say this year’s class also has the highest number of female Hispanic graduates.
• 2021 — Jen Easterly (USMA ’90), nominated by President Joe Biden and confirmed by the US Senate, is sworn in as Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).
• 2023 — Lt. Gen. Telita Crosland (USMA ’89), one of only six woman three-stars in the Army, became the fourth director of the Defense Health Agency (DHA), which was mandated by Congress in 2017 to directly manage all military hospitals and clinics around the world and care for approximately 9.6 million active-duty service members, military retirees and their families worldwide.
• 2024 — Capt. Samatha “Sammy” Sullivan (USMA ’20)  wins an Olympic bronze medal in rugby sevens at the 2024 Paris Olympics after defeating Australia 14-12.
• 2025 — 1st Lt. Gabrielle White (USMA ’21)  is the first woman to compete in and finish the U.S. Army’s Best Ranger Competition, doing so in April 2025. She and her teammate finished 14th.
• 2026 — 301 women enter West Point as members of the Class of 2030, the largest class of women to enter West Point.