Tallahassee native Mary Lou Norwood was a Florida State College for Women/Florida State University student, class of 1947 (BA, English). She grew up within a block of the FSCW and the campus was her childhood playground. During her years as a student she served in the Student Senate, wrote for the Florida Flambeau and Distaff, participated heavily in Odd Demonstrations and Junior Minstrels and belonged to Cotillion, Spirogira (Garnet and Gold Key) and Mortified. After leaving FSU she also studied theatre arts at Iowa State University. Upon returning to Tallahassee she was involved with many FSU theatre projects, and designed and ran the lighting for "An Evening of Dance" for many years. She also volunteered her theatre expertise in lighting, staging and choreography for 35 years in working with the FSU Tarpon Club, the student synchronized swimming club. Professionally Mary Lou worked as a writer and editorial assistant for the Florida Wildlife Magazine. She also served a long tenure as the feature editor and later Bureau Chief for the State of Florida's Division of Tourism, all the while picking up assignments as a freelance travel writer for many prestigious publications. She served as Chairperson for the Class of 1947 which developed and built the Heritage Tower. She was the driving force behind the publication of Robin Seller's dissertation as a book, Femina Perfecta (the history of FSCW) and later worked with University officials to develop and implement FSU's Heritage Protocol where she served as the Co-Chair of the Executive Committee. In recognition of her efforts, the Mary Lou Norwood Endowment for Heritage Protocol was established by an anonymous donor in the amount of $100,000. In 1996 she was presented with the Circle of Gold Award, in 2001 she received the Emeritus Alumni Society Commitment to Excellence Award, and in 2002 the Faculty Senate recognized her with its Mores Torch Award. In 2007 Florida State University recognized Mary Lou for her many contributions to the university by bestowing upon her an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters. She died in October 2007 and was posthumously honored by the Alumni Association with the Conradi Lifetime Achievement Award.
From the description of Mary Lou Norwood collection, 1941-2007 (inclusive). (Florida State University). WorldCat record id: 505448148
