Actress Kerry Washington named woman of the year by Harvard’s Hasty Pudding Theatricals

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Actress Kerry Washington has been named woman of the year by Harvard University’s Hasty Pudding Theatricals.

Hasty Pudding, the nation’s oldest collegiate theatrical organization, announced Wednesday that it had selected Washington because she is a “talented and socially engaged film, TV and stage actress who keeps breaking barriers in Hollywood.”

Washington, the first black woman to headline a network TV drama since 1974 as crisis management specialist Olivia Pope on the hit show “Scandal,” has earned Golden Globe, Emmy and SAG Best Actress nominations as well as an NAACP Image Award for Best Actress.

She will be given her pudding pot following a parade through Harvard Square and roast scheduled for Jan. 28.

Previous winners include Meryl Streep, Katharine Hepburn, and Elizabeth Taylor. Comedian Amy Poehler won last year.