Evelyn Erika Handler (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Sass; May 5, 1933 – December 23, 2011) served from 1980 to 1983 as the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant college in Hanover in connection with Dartmouth College, mo ...

's fourteenth, and first female, President. Handler was the first woman in the country to be named president of a publicly supported land grant university. She was credited with bringing in $15 million in federal grants for a science and engineering research center."First woman UNH president identified as Bedford accident victim"
/ref> In 1983, Handler was inaugurated as President of

Brandeis University , mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = NECHE , president = Ronald D. Liebowitz , pro ...

, where she was also the first woman to hold that position. Notable achievements during her tenure include the initiation of The Volen National Center for Complex Systems, the strengthening of life sciences at Brandeis, admission to the Association of American Universities, and founding membership in the

University Athletic Association The University Athletic Association (UAA) is an American athletic conference that competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division III. Member schools are highly selective universities located in Georgia, Illinois, Mis ...

. After leaving Brandeis in 1991, Handler was a research fellow and associate of the Graduate School of Education at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, and a senior fellow at The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. From 1994 to 1997, she served as

California Academy of Sciences The California Academy of Sciences is a research institute and natural history museum in San Francisco, California, that is among the largest museums of natural history in the world, housing over 46 million specimens. The Academy began in 1853 ...

' executive director and CEO. Earlier in her career, she was Dean of Sciences and Mathematics, and professor of biological sciences at

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admi ...

, where she had earned her undergraduate degree. Dr. Handler earned M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

, and a J.D. from Franklin Pierce Law Center. Her scholarly work includes many publications on

myelogenous leukemia Myeloid leukemia is a type of leukemia affecting myeloid tissue. Types include: * Acute myeloid leukemia * Chronic myelogenous leukemia * Acute megakaryoblastic leukemia * Blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm See also * Hematological mali ...

. Handler was a fellow of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

, and a fellow of the New York Academy of Sciences. Additionally, she was elected to the Board of Governors of the New York Academy of Sciences in 1979, and served as a director of the Student Loan Corporation ( Stamford, CT). She held honorary degrees from the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

Rivier College Rivier University is a private Catholic liberal arts university in Nashua, New Hampshire. Rivier is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education and approved by the New Hampshire Department of Education. History Rivier Universit ...

and

. She was killed when as a pedestrian, she was struck by a motorist on December 23, 2011. University of New Hampshire built a residence hall named SERC Hall A In 2007, on October 11, 2013, this hall was renamed to Handler Hall in her honor.

References

External links

University of New Hampshire: Office of the PresidentFull list of University Presidents (including interim Presidents)
University of New Hampshire Library
"Guide to the Evelyn E. Handler Papers, 1980-1983"
University of New Hampshire Library
''Forbes'' profile
* ttp://www.brandeis.edu/now/2011/december/handler.html "Evelyn E. Handler, 5th president of Brandeis, killed in automobile accident" Brandeis University. December 26, 2011. 1933 births 2011 deaths American women chief executives Presidents of Brandeis University Presidents of the University of New Hampshire People associated with the California Academy of Sciences Harvard University staff Hunter College alumni Hunter College faculty Hunter College High School alumni New York University alumni University of New Hampshire School of Law alumni Pedestrian road incident deaths Road incident deaths in New Hampshire Women heads of universities and colleges {{US-edu-bio-stub