Grace J. Fippinger was the first woman to serve as an officer in the Bell System serving as Secretary-Treasurer for the NYNEX/New York Telephone Company. (NYNEX Corporation is the predecessor of Verizon Corporation.) She also served as a director for Pfizer, Inc., Paramount, The Bear Stearns Companies and Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company. The Foundation was created in 1991 with initial contributions from Grace and the NYNEX Corporation.