On the eve of November 30, 2005, Victoria A. Alekhine, President of Books for Africa Student Organization at the George Washington University, presented the first Distinguished Honorary Member Award to an extraordinary leading figure at the George Washington University: University President, Stephen Joel Trachtenberg.   

     The Distiguished Honorary Member Award was created to recognize friends of the organization whose contribution to Books for Africa Student Organization have been outstanding.  "President Trachtenberg was selected as our first Honorary Member due to his guidance and mentoring in the past three years," explained Victoria.  "His continuous support and encouragement of our mission have been unmatchable.  Furthermore, President Trachtenberg's funding is helping defray our costs for traveling to Nigeria in March of 2006," added Victoria.

     Only one or two individuals are expected to receive the Books for Africa Distiguished Honorary Member Award each year.  Distinguished Honorary Members will be featured in a special section in the Books for Africa website starting next year.