Elspeth Rostow (born Elspeth Vaughan Davies; October 20, 1917 – December 10, 2007) was Dean of the

LBJ School of Public Affairs The Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs (or LBJ School of Public Affairs) is a graduate school at the University of Texas at Austin that was founded in 1970 to offer training in public policy analysis and administration for students that ar ...

at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

from 1977 to 1983.

Education

Elspeth Vaughan Davies was born October 20, 1917. She graduated from

Barnard College Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...

in 1938. She received a master's degree in history from

Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and functioned as the female coordinate institution for the all-male Harvard College. Considered founded in 1879, it was one of the Seven Sisters colleges and he ...

in 1939 and a master's degree from

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

in 1949.

World War II

While teaching at Barnard in 1939, she was among the founders of American studies as an academic discipline and later authored the book, ''European Economic Reconstruction'' (1948). During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, she worked for the

Office of Strategic Services The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the intelligence agency of the United States during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines for all branc ...

in Washington, analyzing dispatches from the French Resistance. She had met

Walt Whitman Rostow Walt Whitman Rostow (October 7, 1916 – February 13, 2003) was an American economist, professor and political theorist who served as National Security Advisor to President of the United States Lyndon B. Johnson from 1966 to 1969. Rostow worked ...

at a Paris seminar in 1937. After their marriage a decade later, the couple lived in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

for three years.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

When she was being considered as

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the mo ...

's first female tenured professor in the early 1950s, the MIT Faculty Club remained an all-male enclave. When she went to the Provost and asked to be admitted, he denied her request, at which point she retorted, "well then you can just build me my own Faculty Club." The policy was changed that same day.

University of Texas

She brought to the University of Texas impressive academic credentials and internationally recognized expertise in the area of public policy. Among her other presidential appointments,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

appointed her to the board of the

U.S. Institute of Peace The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) is an American federal institution tasked with promoting conflict resolution and prevention worldwide. It provides research, analysis, and training to individuals in diplomacy, mediation, and other pea ...

, which she later chaired. Rostow was a force at University of Texas from 1969 until her death. She was initially drawn to

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

with her husband, Walt, by the research value of

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

’s presidential papers. (Walt had served in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations and was writing a book.) She served as dean of both the LBJ School of Public Affairs and University of Texas' Division of General and Comparative Studies. As dean, she recruited professors such as

Barbara Jordan Barbara Charline Jordan (February 21, 1936 – January 17, 1996) was an American lawyer, educator, and politician. A Democrat, she was the first African American elected to the Texas Senate after Reconstruction and the first Southern African-A ...

. Despite her administrative ability, she considered herself first to be a teacher, eventually working as a professor for over half a century. She had remarked, "I enjoy the simple act of teaching. It's not transmitting information, it's enticing people into the world of ideas."

1990s

In 1991, she co-founded The Austin Project, a comprehensive community investment program in children and young people. Her husband once said, "She's extraordinarily concerned with other people. She is an administrator with a green thumb. When she runs something, it flourishes." In 1996, ''

The Alcalde ''The Alcalde'' (; ) has been the alumni magazine of The University of Texas at Austin since 1913, and is published by the university's alumni association, the Texas Exes.

'' described Rostow as having "never a hair nor a thread nor a word out of place. She is quietly intense, notoriously elegant, eloquent, proper, and continually self-deprecating."

Death

She died, aged 90, following a heart attack, in 2007, survived by her two children, Ann and Peter, and a granddaughter, Diana Rostow.

References

External links

Obituary
at ''Washington Post''

at wcfish.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Rostow, Elspeth 1917 births 2007 deaths 20th-century American educators Barnard College alumni People from Austin, Texas People from New York City People of the Office of Strategic Services Radcliffe College alumni University of Texas at Austin faculty American women civilians in World War II