A Woman of Firsts: Pioneer Tori Murden Mclure to Visit Campus May 20

First woman to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean reads from her book 'A Pearl in the Storm'

May 12, 2009 – Tori Murden McClure, who is best known as the first woman and first American to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean, will speak on the Phillips Academy Campus on Wednesday, May 20 at 6:30 p.m. in Kemper Auditorium on Chapel Avenue in Andover. She rowed a 23-foot boat alone and without physical support for a distance of more than 3,300 miles. She was also the first woman and first American to travel over land to the geographic South Pole, skiing 750 miles from the ice shelf to the pole.  The event is free and open to the public.

An avid mountaineer, McClure has climbed on several continents, and was the first woman to climb Lewis Nunatuck summit in Antarctica. A fully certified Emergency Medical Technician in both urban and wilderness areas, she is also a graduate of the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) semester courses in Alaska and Kenya. Currently the vice president for external relations, enrollment management, and student affairs at Spalding University in Louisville, Ky., McClure serves on the Boards of Trustees for Smith College and for NOLS.  Her visit is sponsored by the Academy's departments of admissions and community service.

Copies of her book, "A Pearl in the Storm," will be available for purchase and signing.