Judith Ann Mayotte (born January 25, 1937) is an American humanitarian, author, theologian, producer, former Catholic religious sister, ethicist, and university professor.
[1] Moberly soon married Jack Mayotte who was International Vice President for Square D. They were together only three years before he died of cancer in 1975.
In 1978 she joined WTTW, Chicago's public broadcasting station, as the Director of Research for the News and Current Affairs Division.
In 1982 she joined Turner Broadcasting as Senior Researcher and a producer for the Emmy and Peabody Award winning documentary series Portrait of America.
She simply realized one day that she wanted to venture overseas and work with the displaced: "It's something I can't really explain.
The article describes the event: On the videotape of the program, you see aide workers laying out a large white X in an open field, marking the target for the drop.
As the cargo plane comes into view, a worker explains that the Russian pilots will come in low, north-to-south, and drop mostly bags of grain.
There is footage of a worker instructing the pilots by radio, followed by another shot of the plane, this time flying in low to the ground.
In the video, it's clear from the wildly gyrating image that the cameraman, Paul Van Ness, is running for his life.
That she is still alive she credits to some good luck: in Ayod that day was a relief doctor, Bernadette Kumar, who saved her life.
Mayo physicians presented her with what she calls a non-choice: one, possibly two years of reconstructive surgery that might not work, or amputation of her leg below the knee.
She was a member of the executive committee of the International Rescue Committee's board, one of the largest non-sectarian private voluntary organizations in the United States, and a Senior Fellow of the Refugee Policy Group of Washington, D.C. Mayotte has written extensive reports, articles and editorial pieces, appeared on radio and television, and lectures on refugee and development issues.
She later went on to be a professor in the Department of Theology at Marquette and was the Women's Chair in Humanistic Studies, during which time she helped to found the South Africa Service Learning Program in that nation.
In 1995 Mayotte received the Marymount Manhattan College Humanitarian Award and Georgetown University's Learning, Faith, and Freedom Medal.