Marjorie Bell Chambers (March 11, 1923 – August 25, 2006) was an American educator, historian, and politician. She was the first woman to run for

Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico The lieutenant governor of New Mexico ( es, Lista de Vicegobernadores de Nuevo México) is an elected official in the state of New Mexico that ranks just below the governor of New Mexico. The lieutenant governor is the first person in the order of ...

, a national president of the

American Association of University Women The American Association of University Women (AAUW), officially founded in 1881, is a non-profit organization that advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, and research. The organization has a nationwide network of 170,000 ...

, and the president of two colleges (

Colorado Women's College Colorado Women's College was a division of the University of Denver in Denver, Colorado, focusing on evening, weekend, and online courses for women. It originally opened in 1909 as a private women's college and merged with the University of Denver i ...

and Colby-Sawyer College).

Biography

Chambers was born on March 11, 1923, to Kenneth and Katherine Bell (née Totman) in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. After surviving

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

during childhood, she married physicist William H. Chambers in 1945. She and William relocated their family to New Mexico in 1950 when William became employed at the

Los Alamos National Laboratory Los Alamos National Laboratory (often shortened as Los Alamos and LANL) is one of the sixteen research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy (DOE), located a short distance northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico, ...

. The couple had four children and continued to live and work mostly in New Mexico for the remainder of their lives.

Death and legacy

Chambers died on August, 2006, after a long illness. The New Mexico state chapter of the American Association of University Women created the AAUW-NM Ingenious Ideas Award inspired by Chambers and fellow long-time mentor Gloria Cordova. The University of New Mexico Foundation created the Endowed Faculty Award for Excellence in History in honor of Chambers and her husband, William.

Academic career

Chambers received her B.A. in history and political science from

Mount Holyoke College Mount Holyoke College is a private liberal arts women's college in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It is the oldest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite historically women's colleges in the Northeastern United States. ...

in 1943 and her

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.

from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

in 1948. She then earned her

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 ...

from the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

in 1974. Chambers was one of 60 women who gathered in (ironically) the men's Residence Hall at LANL on September 13, 1950, to found the Los Alamos branch of the

. She served as president of that branch, of the New Mexico Division, and finally as national President of the Association from 1975 to 1979.

Political career

Chambers served as an adviser to four presidents and 10 governors of New Mexico in multiple appointed positions and commissions. She chaired the National Advisory Council on Women's Educational Programs under President

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...

and the Committee for Women under President Jimmy Carter. Chambers was elected to the Los Alamos County Council in 1974 and won the Republican nomination in 1982 for

New Mexico's 3rd Congressional District New Mexico's 3rd congressional district serves the northern half of New Mexico, including the state's Capital, Santa Fe. The district has a significant Native American presence, encompassing most of the New Mexico portion of the Navajo Nation, ...

seat, losing to

Bill Richardson William Blaine Richardson III (born November 15, 1947) is an American politician, author, and diplomat who served as the 30th governor of New Mexico from 2003 to 2011. He was also the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and Energy Secretary ...

. In 1986, she became the first woman in New Mexico to seek a party's nomination for Lieutenant Governor but lost to Jack L. Stahl.

Published works

*Chambers, Marjorie Bell. “Technically Sweet Los Alamos: the Development of a Federally Sponsored Scientific Community.” University of New Mexico, 1974. *Chambers, Marjorie Bell. “The AAUW-IFUW Relationship: An Emerging Issue in Progress.” ''Graduate Woman'', vol. 73, no. 2, 1979, pp. 24–27. *Chambers, Marjorie, and William H. Chambers." Conference Proceedings: The Cold War and Its Implications: Locally, Nationally, and Internationally": the Second Los Alamos International History Conference, Los Alamos, New Mexico, August 9–12, 1998. Los Alamos, N.M.: Los Alamos Historical Society, 1998. Print. *Chambers, Marjorie, and Linda K. Aldrich. ''Los Alamos, New Mexico: a Survey to 1949''. Los Alamos, N.M: Los Alamos Historical Society, 1999. Print. *Chambers, Marjorie. ''The Battle for Civil Rights, or, How Los Alamos Became a County''. Los Alamos, N.M: Los Alamos Historical Society, 1999. Print.

Awards and distinctions

*1977: Doctor of Laws ''honoris causa'',

Central Michigan University Central Michigan University (CMU) is a public research university in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. Established in 1892 as the Central Michigan Normal School and Business Institute, the private normal school became a state institution and renamed Cen ...

*2003: Governor's Award for Outstanding Women (New Mexico) *2003: Lifetime Achievement from New Mexico Commission on the Status of Women

Notes and references

External links

William H. and Marjorie Bell Chambers Endowed Faculty Award for Excellence in HistoryAAUW-NM Ingenious Ideas AwardC-SPAN panel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chambers, Marjorie Bell Women in New Mexico politics American women historians Academics from New Mexico Educators from New York City American women educators 1923 births 2006 deaths University of New Mexico alumni 20th-century American women Mount Holyoke College alumni Historians from New York (state) 21st-century American women