Rosemary Park

Rosemary Park (March 11, 1907 – April 17, 2004) was an American scholar, academic leader, advocate for women's education and the first American woman to become president of two colleges and vice chancellor of a major university. During her career Park served as the 5th president of Connecticut College from 1947 to 1962, the 6th president of Barnard College from 1962 to 1967 and the first female vice chancellor in the University of California system at UCLA from 1967 to 1970.

Early life and education Rosemary Park, the youngest of four children, was born on March 11, 1907, in Andover, Massachusetts, into a family of educators. From an early age Park showed an interest in academia, studying German in high school, a field which at the time was mainly dominated by men. After high school Park went on to earn her bachelor's degree from Radcliffe College, graduating summa cum laude with a major in German. After graduating Park was able to continue her education by studying in Germany, first at the University of Bonn where she earned her masters in 1929 During her 30-year tenure at Conn, 15 as President, Park was responsible for a number of major changes to the college including the restructuring of the curriculum, the growth of the college by 500 students (for comparison the college now has an estimated 1,865 students ), the addition of 10,000,000 worth of new infrastructure including the school's health center, student center, a laboratory building and 8 new student dormitories. In addition, Park was instrumental in the 1959 transition of Connecticut College from a solely women's college to a co-educational institution, a decision which stemmed both from community need and the benefits it would bring both to the college as a whole and to its female students This curriculum, which mandated five courses a semester was eventually deemed to be too demanding of students and in 1962 the requirements were reduced to only four courses a semester, theoretically allowing the students to produce higher-quality more focused work. This less-drastic curriculum revision maintained many of the same requirements and offerings as the 1953 revision while reinforcing Park's goal of academic seriousness and vigor at the College. The couple wed on August 1, 1965, Park in Greenwich, Connecticut. Park, who died on April 17, 2004, at the age of 97, is survived by her stepson as well as a number of nieces and nephews.

Community and organizational involvement Throughout her life Park maintained an active interest in a number of community organizations both related to and separate from her work in academia. Below is a summary of some of the many positions Park held during her lifetime, often in conjunction with her administrative duties at Connecticut College, Barnard and UCLA. Lyman Allyn Museum (director) New London Chamber of Commerce (director) Fund for the Advancement of Education (Ford Foundation (Member, National Committee on Faculty Fellowships) Connecticut Higher Education assistance Corporation (Incorporator) American College for Girls (advisor) The Masters School (Trustee) University of Hartford (Member, Board of Regents) United Chapters of Phi Beta Kappa (Senator at Large) New England College Fund (vice-president) Genera Motors National Scholarship Committee (Member) John Hay Whitney Foundation (Member) Association of American Colleges (Member, Board of Directors) Institute of American Colleges (Member, Board of Directors) Institute of International Education (Member, Advisory Committee of College and University Presidents) Rockefeller Brothers Theological Fellowship Program (Member, Board of Directors) Connecticut State Board of Mental Health (Member) The Mystic Oral School for the Deaf (Trustee) Williams Memorial Institute (Administrator and Trustee) Institute of Living (Corporator) Lawrence Memorial Hospital (Member and Corporator) American Academy of Arts and Sciences (Member, Committee on International Relations) Connecticut Arboretum (Member, Advisory Committee) American Association of University Professors (Member)

Awards and recognition

Honorary degrees

Wesleyan University (1948) Mount Holyoke College (1955) Douglass College (1950) Yale University (1958) Bridgeport University (1962) Brown University (1962) Columbia University (1962) New York University (1962) Goucher College (1963) Oberlin College (1963) University of Pennsylvania (1964) University of Hartford (1965) Syracuse University (1965) University of Massachusetts (1968)

Honors and awards

Los Angeles Times Woman of the Year (1968) Connecticut College Rosemary Park Fellowship (created in her honor)