Eva Cohn Galambos (July 1, 1928 – April 19, 2015), was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

-born American economist and politician who served as the first

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

Sandy Springs Sandy Springs is a city in northern Fulton County, Georgia and an inner ring suburb of Atlanta. The city's population was 108,080 at the 2020 census, making it Georgia's seventh-largest city. It is the site of several corporate headquarters, i ...

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. She served as the city's inaugural Mayor from December 1, 2005, until January 7, 2014, when

Rusty Paul Russell K. Paul (born June 23, 1952) is an American politician serving as the mayor of Sandy Springs, Georgia since 2014. Early life and education Paul was born in 1952, and grew up in the Birmingham, Alabama area. He received a Bachelor’s de ...

took office as the city's second mayor.

Early life and education

Born Eva Cohn in

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, Germany, her father was a judge. He was ousted from his position, along with other prominent Jews, in 1933 when

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

came to power. The family then moved to Genoa, Italy, where they lived for six years before moving to the United States and settling in

Athens, Georgia Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta, and is a satellite city of the capital. The University of Georgia, the sta ...

, where her father got a job at the University of Georgia with the help of prominent alumnus

Harold Hirsch Harold D. Hirsch (October 19, 1881 – September 25, 1939) was a student at the University of Georgia from 1898 to 1901 who also played football for his alma mater. After graduation from the University of Georgia, he studied law at Columbia Unive ...

. Galambos attended Athens High School and graduated as

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution. The valedictorian is commonly determined by a numerical formula, generally an academic institution's grade point average (GPA ...

in 1944. She later graduated from the University of Georgia in 1948 with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree. Later in life she earned a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

(M.A.) in labor and industrial relations from the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

and a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in economics from

Georgia State University Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is also the largest institution of hig ...

. She was the recipient of the 2011 Andrew Young School Distinguished Alumni Award from the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University.

Labor activism

An activist, who advocated for workers, Galambos landed her first professional job as Associate Editor of the Atlanta Journal of Labor, writing local copy to interest the union members. Her "love for activism" extended to campaigning for

rent control Rent regulation is a system of laws, administered by a court or a public authority, which aims to ensure the affordability of housing and tenancies on the rental market for dwellings. Generally, a system of rent regulation involves: * Price con ...

in the city of Atlanta. While "thanked" for her research, the practice, adopted in New York, was not enacted in a Southern city more sensitive to issues of government overreach. Galambos later obtained a position, working on behalf of the

International Association of Machinists The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) is an AFL–CIO/ CLC trade union representing approx. 646,933 workers as of 2006 in more than 200 industries with most of its membership in the United States and Canada. Or ...

. She was a labor economist for many years, teaching at Clark Atlanta University and

Politics

Galambos had held various positions in the Sandy Springs community before being elected the first mayor of the city in early November 2005. She was the president of the Committee for Sandy Springs, 1975–2005, which fought to incorporate Sandy Springs. She was also a co-founder and former secretary of Sandy Springs Revitalization; founder of Sandy Springs Clean and Beautiful; chairwoman of services committee for the Sandy Springs Council of Neighborhoods; former chairwoman of the Fulton County Public Housing Authority; and founder of Sandy Springs Civic Roundtable.

Death

She died of cancer on April 19, 2015, at the age of 86. Her funeral was held at Temple Kehillat Chaim in Roswell, Georgia on April 21, 2015.

Bibliography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Galambos, Eva 1928 births 2015 deaths Mayors of places in Georgia (U.S. state) Women mayors of places in Georgia (U.S. state) Jewish American people in Georgia (U.S. state) politics Jewish mayors of places in the United States University of Georgia alumni Georgia State University alumni University of Illinois alumni Emigrants from Nazi Germany Immigrants to the United States People from Sandy Springs, Georgia Politicians from Berlin Deaths from cancer in Georgia (U.S. state) Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to Italy