Linda S. Wilson, president emerita of Radcliffe College, passed away on January 1. She was 89 years old.
Born in Washington, D.C., and raised in New Orleans, Dr. Wilson graduated Phi Beta Kappa from H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College, the women’s college associated with Tulane University. She went on to earn her Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Later in life, Dr. Wilson receive honorary doctorates from Newcomb College, Tulane University, and the University of Maryland.
Dr. Wilson began her career teaching and conducting research at the University of Maryland, the University of Southampton in England, and the University of Missouri-St. Louis. She then moved into academic administration, holding positions such as associate chancellor for research at Washington University in St. Louis, vice chancellor for research and associate dean of the Graduate College at the University of Illinois, and vice president for research at the University of Michigan.
In 1989, Dr. Wilson was named president of Radcliffe College, a women’s liberal arts institution in Cambridge, Massachusetts, founded in 1879 and affiliated with Harvard University. During her tenure at Radcliffe, she established the Radcliffe Research Partnership Program, the Radcliffe Public Policy Institute, and the Graduate Consortium in Women’s Studies. Dr. Wilson retired in 1999, when the Radcliffe/Harvard merger was completed.
In addition to her administrative work, Dr. Wilson was active in national science policy and served as a member of numerous professional organizations. She also served as an advisor to the United States Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation. Additionally, she served on boards and advisory committees for a wide range of organizations and academic institutions, including posts at Tulane University, the University of Wisconsin College of Letters and Science, Newcomb College, and the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences.