Zelda Finkelstein Gamson, longtime professor and advocate for social justice passed away on April 27. She was 90 years old.
A native of Philadelphia, Dr. Gamson was the first in her family to attend college. She completed one semester at the University of Pennsylvania before transferring to Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. She went on to earn her doctorate in sociology from Harvard University.
Dr. Gamson’s career in academia began at the University of Michigan, where she taught for 17 years. She focused her work on supporting student organizations and addressing inequality in higher education. In 1965, she organized the university’s first Vietnam War teach-in.
In 1988, Dr. Gamson moved to the University of Massachusetts Boston. There, she founded the doctoral program in higher education and the New England Resource Center for Higher Education. She retired with the title of professor emerita.