The Plaza of Heroines is now graced by five golden bricks after the Celebration of Heroines 2000 ceremony.

The presentation of the bricks Thursday afternoon was part of a ceremony honoring thousands of women represented in the plaza adjacent to Carrie Chapman Catt Hall.

The new bricks each bear the name of a woman who served as a Mary Louise Smith Chair in Women and Politics. They were unveiled by ABC News correspondent Carole Simpson, this year’s chair, and Dianne Bystrom, director of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics.

The chair was established in October 1995 in recognition of Mary Louise Smith, the first woman to chair the Republican National Party. Other women awarded the chair were former Sen. Nancy Landon Kassebaum, first woman to chair a major committee in the U.S. Senate; Ruth Mandel, director of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University, and Elizabeth Dole, first female U.S. Secretary of Transportation and former director of the American Red Cross.

“The chair is designed to bring nationally renowned scholars to Iowa State and to educate students,” Bystrom said. “It serves as an inspiration and role model for students.”

Bystrom said Simpson was selected for the chair because of her 20 years in the broadcast industry and her influence in politics and women’s issues.

Simpson, an Emmy Award-winning senior correspondent for ABC News and anchor of World News Sunday, said she was excited to be named to the chair.

“I am thrilled to see my name beside that of Nancy Kassebaum, Elizabeth Dole, Ruth Mandel and Mary Louise Smith,” she said. “I know all of them, and I am very pleased to be in their company.”

The ceremony also included passages from the biographies of some of the women recognized in the plaza read by Jane Cox, associate professor of theater.

“These are beautiful thoughts written by people who deeply loved these individual women,” Cox said. She said the readings were meant to honor women for their passion, faith and influence.

Diane Greenlee, donor for the Robert and Diane Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication at Iowa State, also recognized the women honored in the plaza.

“Honoring women and family is the essence of Iowa State and the land-grant tradition,” Greenlee said. “Each of us is an example of those who preceded us.”