Cynthia Coolbaugh was a member of Alpha Sigma Alpha during her time as a student at James Madison University. She started college as a home economics major but ended up with a degree in psychology.
Coolbaugh was active in student politics, serving as vice president of the Student Government Association as a senior. She was known for her cooking skills, but it was her ability to plan and coordinate events that served her well in her future career.
As a member of the Class of 1970, Coolbaugh was in college at a pivotal time in American history. Even though she grew up in a military family, she protested the Vietnam War. She was part of a group of students who voluntarily chained themselves to chairs in Wilson Hall. State troopers were called in to deal with the students. For her part in this, Coolbaugh was not allowed to participate in the graduation ceremonies.
A 1972 marriage announcement noted that she was employed at Virginia National Bank in Alexandria.
She later worked with a team at the International Atomic Energy Agency. The team sought to prevent nuclear energy as a form of warfare and to have it used for peaceful purposes. It promoted safeguards to assure the uses were for good purposes, promoting science and technology as well as safety and security.
Her job was as a Section Head for Conference Services and as such she shared in its award of a Nobel Peace Prize in 2005. Coolbaugh died in August 2017 at the age of 70. Her son, David Doane, a James Madison alumnus, donated his mother’s award. It is on display in Wilson Hall, the same place where his mother chained herself to a chair during her senior year.
