--- title: Palm Beach Atlantic University to Honor Melania Trump description: First Lady Melania Trump is set to be recognized by Palm Beach Atlantic University as its 2020 "Woman of Distinction." canonical: https://time.com/5762733/melania-trump-palm-beach-atlantic-university/ author: Mahita Gajanan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2020-01-10T14:03:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T08:02:06.988Z article:section: Politics og:title: Florida University Names 'Exquisite Human Being' Melania Trump As Its 2020 'Woman of Distinction' og:description: Palm Beach Atlantic University will fete the First Lady with a luncheon in February og:url: https://time.com/5762733/melania-trump-palm-beach-atlantic-university/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt77d919c848f21e54/698a08b0db2987e817264c83/melania-trump-palm-beach-atlantic-university.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: US-POLITICS-SUMMIT-MELANIA TRUMP og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Florida University Names 'Exquisite Human Being' Melania Trump As Its 2020 'Woman of Distinction' twitter:description: Palm Beach Atlantic University will fete the First Lady with a luncheon in February twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt77d919c848f21e54/698a08b0db2987e817264c83/melania-trump-palm-beach-atlantic-university.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Florida University Names 'Exquisite Human Being' Melania Trump As Its 2020 'Woman of Distinction' ## Video: Melania Trump Marks 1-Year Anniversary of Her 'Be Best' Initiative as President Looks On [Watch (HLS stream): Melania Trump Marks 1-Year Anniversary of Her 'Be Best' Initiative as President Looks On](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/udYSo0qJ.m3u8) (2:00)  _Published 2019-05-07. Melania Trump celebrated Tuesday’s anniversary of her “Be Best” initiative by announcing its expansion and another international trip to promote it._ by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Jan 10, 2020 2:03 PM UTC  US First Lady Melania Trump arrives to address the B'More Youth Summit in Baltimore, Maryland, on November 26, 2019. US First Lady Melania Trump arrives to address the B'More Youth Summit in Baltimore, Maryland, on November 26, 2019.AFP/Getty Images by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Jan 10, 2020 2:03 PM UTC First Lady Melania Trump is set to be recognized by Palm Beach Atlantic University as its 2020 “Woman of Distinction.” The university typically fetes two women who have contributed to the community each year at an honorary luncheon, the [Palm Beach _Post_ reports](https://www.palmbeachpost.com/entertainment/20200106/melania-trump-first-lady-named-woman-of-distinction). Melania Trump will be the sole recipient of the recognition at this year’s awards luncheon, though, which will be held on Feb. 19. “Our first lady is an exquisite human being, a magnificent wife and life partner, a superb mother and an outstanding first lady,” the luncheon’s co-chairwoman Eileen Burns [told _USA Today_](https://eu.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2020/01/09/melania-trump-honored-florida-palm-beach-woman-distinction/4418646002/). “First ladies define the history of our country” Frances Fisher, another co-chairwoman for the event at the private Christian university, told the Palm Beach _Post_. “We are honored to recognize Mrs. Trump as a Woman of Distinction and the only first lady since Mrs. Kennedy to be a Palm Beach resident. This will be a truly memorable event.” The Trumps changed their primary residence from Manhattan to Palm Beach, Fl. in late 2019, noting that President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort would be their permanent home. As First Lady, Melania Trump’s focus has turned to children with her [“Be Best” campaign](https://time.com/5268266/be-best-first-lady-melania-trump-launches-official-white-house-project/) launched officially in 2018, which aims to combat cyberbullying and opioid abuse. Trump has traveled across the U.S. and to several different countries, meeting with diplomats and other officials and taking part in panel discussions as part of the campaign. She has been criticized over the initiative, however, given that her husband, President Trump, frequently uses his Twitter account to name-call and denigrate his opponents. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5762733/melania-trump-palm-beach-atlantic-university/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5762733/melania-trump-palm-beach-atlantic-university/"},"headline":"Florida University Names 'Exquisite Human Being' Melania Trump As Its 2020 'Woman of Distinction'","datePublished":"2020-01-10T14:03:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T08:02:06.988Z","description":"Palm Beach Atlantic University will fete the First Lady with a luncheon in February","url":"https://time.com/5762733/melania-trump-palm-beach-atlantic-university/","keywords":["White House","Florida","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt77d919c848f21e54/698a08b0db2987e817264c83/melania-trump-palm-beach-atlantic-university.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt77d919c848f21e54/698a08b0db2987e817264c83/melania-trump-palm-beach-atlantic-university.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-POLITICS-SUMMIT-MELANIA TRUMP","caption":"US-POLITICS-SUMMIT-MELANIA TRUMP","creditText":"AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5762733/melania-trump-palm-beach-atlantic-university/","name":"Florida University Names 'Exquisite Human Being' Melania Trump As Its 2020 'Woman of Distinction'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Melania Trump Marks 1-Year Anniversary of Her 'Be Best' Initiative as President Looks On","description":"Melania Trump celebrated Tuesday’s anniversary of her “Be Best” initiative by announcing its expansion and another international trip to promote it.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/udYSo0qJ/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2019-05-07T17:56:36.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/udYSo0qJ.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5762733/melania-trump-palm-beach-atlantic-university/","duration":"PT2M","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5762733/melania-trump-palm-beach-atlantic-university/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```