Gold-medal winning Olympic swimmer Nancy Hogshead-Makar of Jacksonville is one of 10 finalists for the 2020 Florida Women’s Hall of Fame inductee class.
She is the founder and CEO of Champion Women, an advocacy group for women and girls in sports.
Hogshead-Makar won three gold medals and one silver medal for the U.S. in the 1984 summer Olympics. Following her Olympic career, she practiced law with a firm for four years and was a professor at Florida Coastal School of Law for 12 years.
The Florida Commission on the Status of Women announced the finalists Aug. 14. The commission accepts nominations every year for historic and contemporary women to the Hall of Fame, now in its 38th year.
Gov. Ron DeSantis will select up to three women to be inducted into the Hall.
The women nominated have “made significant contributions to the improvement of life for women and for all citizens of the state of Florida,” the commission said in a news release.
Here are the other nominees:
• Alice Scott Abbott, formerly of Bunnell.
• Florence Alexander, Ph.D. of Longwood.
• Samira Beckwith of Fort Myers.
• Jane Castor of Tampa.
• May Mann Jennings, formerly of Brooksville.
• Sen. Arthenia Joyner of Tampa.
• Alma Lee Loy, formerly of Vero Beach.
• Audrey Schiebler, formerly of Gainesville.
• E. Thelma Waters of Indiantown.
“The Florida Commission on the Status of Women, in the true spirit of celebration, is proud to honor these outstanding women who have had such a meaningful impact on our state and its history,” Commission Chair Rita Barreto Craig said in the news release.
“Each year it is more difficult to choose ten finalists to send to the Governor because of the many superb nominations we receive.”
The induction ceremony is Nov. 18 at the Florida Supreme Court in Tallahassee.