Romance
A FINE
Long before Gates announced her decision
to relinquish her national post at Girls Inc.
in November 1992, she submitted herself
to personality testing to determine her next
move. Ever the strategist, Gates assessed her
interests while simultaneously contemplating
an orderly departure from the organization
for which she had navigated a thorough re-branding.
By then she was burned out, says
her dearest friend, Ann Breen.
The results of the personality testing were
summarized in one short paragraph:
“The stimulation of new ideas and con-cepts
is favored over physical activities. Work
activities, which combine ideas and reflective
thought with the opportunity to influence
the thoughts and actions of others, seem best
suited to your pattern of interests. The use of
words and a persuasive attitude add to your
sense of fulfillment.”
Mid-1993 to 1994, during a year of
transition, Gates took a position as visiting
professor at the University of Pennsylvania
School of Social Work in Philadelphia and
later updated her resume. Handwritten notes
indicate she may have applied for employ-ment
with the White House.
She also wrote to former Georgetown Law
classmate and friend Susan Hewman regard-ing
a Violence Against Women position at
the Department of Justice, asking her to “put
my name forward for both the staff position
and the advisory committee.”
It was not long before Gates landed a plumb
assignment with the prestigious Aspen Institute
as a visiting fellow in its nonprofit sector, a
position she held from 1994 to 1996. She
remained with Aspen through 1999, but not
before she rekindled her college romance with
Leutze.
Like Leutze, friend Maureen Broglia never
lost contact with Gates.
“I was a corporate lobbyist for a major health-care
University of North Carolina Wilmington Chancellor James R. Leutze and Marge Gates at
Kenan House, circa 1998.
company and I also worked in D.C., so I’d sometimes see Marge. I was always so impressed by her,” Broglia says. “So bright; such a leader.”
Barbara Feldon, who starred as Agent 99 in the 1960s prime-time comedy “Get Smart,” and was herself a role model for young
women, became fast friends with Gates through Girls Inc.
“She wanted me to meet Jim at some Ivy League club off of Fifth Avenue,” Feldon says. “I remember meeting him and just being so
impressed with him, and her — that she had met this very extraordinary guy.”
46
WBM march 2019