Melissa (Emme) Entwistle Aronson, 1985 (Rowing)
Melissa Entwistle Aronson, better known as Emme, was a four-year women's rowing letterwinner for the Orange. She was invited to the U.S. Olympic team trials, as well as several U.S. National team trials, during her career. In 1994 she was inducted into the Syracuse University Orange Plus Hall of Fame for her significant contribution to women's athletics and the sport of rowing.
Upon earning her bachelor's degree in speech communications from Syracuse, Emme spent two years in Flagstaff, AZ reporting and anchoring for the NBC affiliate KNAZ-TV. She later burst onto the scene as the world's first full-figured supermodel and as host of "Fashion Emergency" on E! Entertainment Television. She quickly became a popular icon not only in the United States, but around the globe. People magazine selected her twice as one of their "50 Most Beautiful People." Her television and radio appearances include Oprah, Good Morning America, The Today Show, and Entertainment Tonight, among others. Emme became the first full-figured model to secure a contract with a cosmetics company, Revlon, and to have a high fashion collectable doll sculpted in her likeness. She has authored four highly praised books, her most recent a children's book entitled "What Are You Hungry For?"
In addition to her success in the fashion and television industries and as an author, Emme is a vocal advocate for women on important issues such as lifestyle, the green movement, mothering and body image. She is a notable lecturer at national workshops and seminars, prestigious universities, and middle schools and high schools across the country. Emme is the chair ambassador of the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA), and serves on the advisory boards of Ophelia's Place, Hearts of Gold, and Ethosquare, and is an ambassador for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
In 2006, the Syracuse Alumni Rowing Association (SARA) honored Emme for her significant contributions to the community on women's health and self-esteem issues by creating an award in her name that is given annually to an alumna who demonstrates a similar commitment to serving her community.
