Phyllis A. Wallace (1921–1993) was a distinguished African American

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

and

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, as well as the first woman to receive doctorate of economics at Yale University. Her work tended to focus on racial, as well as gender discrimination in the workplace.

Early life

She was born Annie Rebecca Wallace in Calvert County, Maryland, on June 9, 1921 to John Wallace, a craftsman, and Stevella Wallace. She attended a well ranked yet segregated high school, Frederick Douglass High School, graduating in 1939. Despite ranking first in her high school class, state law at that time would not allow her to attend the all-white University of Maryland. She attended New York University, receiving a bachelor's degree in economics in 1943, graduating magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. She later attended

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

, earning a master's degree in 1944 and a PhD in 1948. A mix of encouragement from her Yale economist professor and work at a federal-defense agency made her decide to pursue a career in international economics.

Career

Her work began studying economic growth in the

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, but later transferred to a focus in workplace economics, joining the senior staff of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in 1965. She became a voice for anti-discrimination in the workplace, and was an important part of the anti-workplace-discrimination contingencies of the

Civil Rights Act of 1964 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 () is a landmark civil rights and United States labor law, labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on Race (human categorization), race, Person of color, color, religion, sex, and nationa ...

. Her work shifted again towards economic issues with urban minority youth when she began working for Metropolitan Applied Research Center (MARC). Wallace joined the faculty of

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 ...

in 1972 as a visiting professor, and was tenured as full professor in 1974, in the

Sloan School The MIT Sloan School of Management (MIT Sloan or Sloan) is the business school of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT Sloan offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs, a ...

. Her appointment made her the first woman to gain tenure at Sloan. Wallace retired from active teaching in 1986.

Achievements

Wallace was the first African American and the first female president of the

Industrial Relations Research Association Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...

. She also garnered several awards for her accomplishments, including National Economic Association's Westerfield Award in 1981, and awards from several universities, including Yale (1980) and Brown (1986).

Bibliography

Books by Wallace include: * ''Pathways to work: Unemployment among black teenage females'' (1974). Lexington, MA: Lexington Books *''Equal Employment Opportunity and the AT & T Case'' (1976). Cambridge, Mass: M.I.T. Press * ''Women, minorities and employment discrimination'' (1977) Lexington, MA: Lexington Books * * editor, ''Women in the workplace'' (1982) Boston, MA: Auburn House * ''MBAs on the fast track'' (1989) New York: Harper and Row

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wallace, Phyllis 1921 births 1993 deaths African-American activists African-American economists New York University alumni Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni 20th-century American economists People from Calvert County, Maryland People from Boston MIT Sloan School of Management faculty American women economists Economists from Massachusetts Economists from Maryland 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people