YMCA Awards

Governor Michael S. Dukakis announced Wednesday that president Horner and Dr. Mary Ellen Avery, Thomas Rorch professor of Pediatrics at the Medical School, were among 23 women named "Women '76".

The Women '76 awards are sponsored by the Boston Young Women's Christian Association as part of its bicentennial observation and its celebration of the Boston YWCA's 11th anniversary.

Barbara Dwyer, spokesman for the YWCA, said that the women named have "opened doors" and provided inspiration for other Boston women.

Harner has studied the internalization of expectations in men and women, focusing on its sustained impact throughout life.

Avery is the first woman Physician-in-Chief at the Children's Medical Center in Boston.

Avery said yesterday she is particularly interested in research into the health problems of new-born children and of handicapped and disabled children.