Barbara Mikulski, a good friend to Anne Arundel County during her many years in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate, will receive an award for effective governance and a lifelong commitment to Maryland next week.

Mikulski, a Democrat who served a combined 40 years in Congress, is set to be honored at The University of Baltimore’s annual William Donald Schaefer Conference on May 5.

“Women couldn’t wear pants on the House floor when she was first elected, and it wasn’t all that long ago,” U.S. Rep. Sarah Elfreth, a Democrat who represents the 3rd Congressional District and is a mentee of Mikulski’s, said in an interview. “She set this pace and this standard as a member of [Baltimore] City Council, of the House, of the Senate; just an incredible example for every other woman running for office.”

Mikulski represented Maryland’s 3rd Congressional District before being elected to the U.S. Senate.

The event will be put on by the university’s Schaefer Center for Public Policy, which will give Mikulski the award named for former Baltimore Mayor and Maryland Gov. William Donald Schaefer.

The William Donald Schaefer award, created in 2015, is intended to honor lifetime achievement and commitment to the well-being of Maryland residents, according to Ann Cotten, executive director of the Schaefer Center.

The event will take place at the Westin Annapolis hotel.

“For more than fifty years, William Donald Schaefer served the citizens of Baltimore and our state as a city councilman, city council president, mayor, governor and comptroller,” Jessica Robey, communications liaison for the Schaefer Center for Public Policy wrote in a release.

Previous honorees include former Rep. Elijah Cummings, a Baltimore Democrat representing Maryland’s 7th Congressional District, and Nancy Grasmick, former Maryland state superintendent of schools.

Mikulski was not available for comment.

Mikulski, 88, sat on the powerful Appropriations Committee throughout her 30 years in the U.S. Senate. She became the first woman and first Marylander to serve as chair of the committee in 2012, according to Johns Hopkins Sheridan Libraries .

Former President Barack Obama awarded Mikulski the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015. She was also inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 2015 and the Maryland Women’s Hall of Fame in 1988.

Since taking office in January, Elfreth has been in the forefront of efforts to fight President Donald Trump’s directives to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs and slash the federal workforce.

Elfreth sits on the Naval Academy Board of Visitors and House Armed Services Committee, roles she says give her an opportunity to protect institutions in Maryland, much like Mikulski.

“I’m going around to all the [Military] installations in the state and sincerely trying to learn and be a champion, not just for those installations but for our service members,” Elfreth said. “That’s something she really prided herself on and something I’m trying my best to fulfill for her. She’s been a blueprint for me.”

In March, Elfreth used some of her time on the House floor to highlight women and women of color who graduated from the Naval Academy to show the importance of diversity in the armed forces and to argue against the elimination of DEI in the military and the service academies .

Mikulski has been a mentor to Elfreth since she was first elected to the state Senate in 2018, Elfreth said. The pair meets regularly for lunch.

“Going about the district, the number of institutions who have said to me that she was their champion has been incredible,” Elfreth said. “To be a champion of so many different things, that’s the legacy right there.”