The "Scandal" star, seen on Broadway in David Mamet's Race, will be honored Jan. 28 with a parade through Cambridge, MA. She will be presented with her Pudding Pot later that afternoon. "We are so excited to honor Kerry Washington as the Hasty Pudding Theatricals Woman of the Year and welcome her to Cambridge to celebrate her many achievements. Kerry is an amazing actress with many fans in the company, and the perfect choice for this honor," stated Kennedy Edmonds '17, HPT168 producer.

Since 1951, Hasty Pudding Theatricals — the oldest theatrical organization in the country — has chosen an entertainer for Woman of the Year, with Man of the Year added in 1967. Among the theatre actors who have been honored are Gertrude Lawrence, Liza Minnelli, Julie Andrews, Carol Burnett, Angela Lansbury, Bernadette Peters, Glenn Close, Helen Mirren, Dustin Hoffman, Neil Patrick Harris and Alan Alda, among others.

The Hasty Pudding Club was begun in 1795 as a kind of fraternity, its name taken from a tasty mixture of cornmeal, milk and molasses. The members began putting on mock trials, which eventually grew into full-scale musical spoofs.