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On May 11 in Fort Worth, Humanities Texas Board Member Kit T. Moncrief and her husband Charlie received the 2009 Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service. The award, given by The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars of the Smithsonian Institution, recognizes leaders in both business and public service who share President Wilson's dedication to improving society through the exchange of knowledge and scholarship and furthering public discourse.

Kit is a philanthropist with numerous leadership roles representing a variety of interests in Fort Worth. She is president of the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame, vice president of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Foundation, co-chair of the Fort Worth Zoological Association, and a member of the executive committee of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra Association and co-chair of its $30 million endowment campaign. She sits on the boards of many other arts institutions and works for organizations outside of Fort Worth as well, including the Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art in Austin and the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Charlie is the vice president of Moncrief Oil/Montex Drilling Company and the director of the William A. and Elizabeth B. Moncrief Foundation.

The Woodrow Wilson Center is the national memorial to President Wilson headquartered in Washington, D.C. Its Public Service award honors individuals who "have served with distinction in public life and have shown a special commitment to seeking out informed opinions and thoughtful views," according to the award's description. "Rather than basing policies and ideas on political or professional expediency, these leaders devote themselves to examining the historical background and long-term implications of important public policy issues."

Humanities Texas congratulates Kit and Charlie on this well-deserved recognition.