Year Honored: 1993

Birth: 1926 - 2014

Born in: Georgia

Biography

Mae D. Hightower-Vandamm graduated from Wesley College in 1947 with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and English. She then went on to attend Columbia University, earning a degree in Occupational Therapy in 1956.

In 1958, she began working with the Delaware Curative Workshop, where she became director within five years. Her work as an occupational therapist focused on “developing methods to improve the quality of life for all consumers of health care services.” She retired in 1991, and the facility was named in her honor.

She has served on numerous boards over the years, including two-terms as President of the American Occupational Therapy Association (1978 – 1982). Hightower-Vandamm was enlisted to lecture globally on “the innovative measures she developed and instituted which greatly enhanced the effectiveness of and respect for the field of occupational therapy.” She specifically championed the cause of children, and in response to her efforts the Mae Hightower-Vandamm Pediatric Fund was formed.

Hightower-Vandamm has been recognized for her efforts with the AOTA Service Award (1987 / 1988); NARF Milton Cohen Distinguished Career Award (1989); United Way Volunteer Service Award (1990); and the Coordinating Council for Disabilities Alfred R. Shands Award (1991).

Aside from her work in the medical field, Hightower-Vandamm and her husband, Bruce Alexander Vandamm were avid collectors, and their house served “as a showcase for objects amassed by two fanatical collectors: antique furniture, Georgian silver pieces, books, artwork, needlework, dollhouses, and miniatures.” Hightower-Vandamm was a long-standing member of the National Association of Miniature Enthusiasts, worked as a docent at the Delaware Art Museum, and was nationally recognized for her award-winning needlepoint. She supported the Brandywine Conservancy and Winterthur, was on the Board of the Main Line Chapter of the American Needlepoint Guild, and fundraised for the Sunday Breakfast Mission, Salvation Army, the Alzheimer’s Association, and the United Way.
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Sources and Additional Readings

Mae Dorothy Hightower-Vandamm Obituary (2014) The News Journal. Legacy.com. (n.d.). Retrieved January 11, 2022, from https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/delawareonline/name/mae-hightower-vandamm-obituary?pid=173270445

MD;, H.-V. (n.d.). Ah, faint glow of sunshine. The American journal of occupational therapy : official publication of the American Occupational Therapy Association. Retrieved January 11, 2022, from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/443145/

Milford, M. (2015, April 30). Wilmington House was Collectors' Showcase. The News Journal. Retrieved January 11, 2022, from https://www.delawareonline.com/story/life/home-garden/2015/04/29/city-house-collectors-showcase/26588543/