for
the Amherst campus of the University of Massachusetts
Nov.
10 , 2000
|
$2.5m bequest from alumna will establish by Barbara Pitoniak, News Office staff  lumna
Mildred Barber, a former economist with the U.S. Department of Labor
for 30 years, has bequeathed $2.5 million to the University for the
creation of a chair in Economics named after her mother, Helen Sheridan.
The Barber gift was announced Nov. 3 by Chancellor David K. Scott
during the fall meeting of the University of Massachusetts Foundation.In announcing the gift, Scott recalled his "lively discussions" with Barber in Washington. "She spoke passionately about our Economics Department, the people in it, and the difference it made in her own extraordinary and pioneering career. Through this generous bequest, her spirit will live on and make a difference in the lives of students in generations to come," he said. Barber died Oct. 6 at the age of 78. A Boston native, she received a bachelor's degree in economics from the University in 1943. She simultaneously earned both a master's degree from Harvard Business School and a law degree from Boston College Law .School in 1945. Barber began a long career with the US Department of Labor in 1943 as an economist with the War Labor Board. She went on to hold numerous positions within the department until her retirement as chief of data operations and chief of reporting operations in 1973. "My aunt always said that while she was a student at UMass, she developed the skills she needed to compete in an environment where women were a rarity," said Barber's niece, Sheridan A. Phillips, an associate professor at University of Maryland Medical Systems. "She was a scholarship student, and this gift is her way of paying back what she felt was her tremendous debt to the University." "The Economics Department is already known throughout the world for its innovative economic analysis and blend of theoretical perspectives," noted Diane Flaherty, department chair. "An endowed chair will further increase our visibility and enhance both our course offerings and the stature of a UMass degree in Economics." |
