Vera D. Rubin

Vera Dourmashkin Rubin (August 6, 1911 – February 7, 1985) was an American anthropologist and the founder and first director of the Research Institute for the Study of Man. She specialised in the anthropology of the Caribbean.

Early life and education Rubin was born in Moscow in 1911, and migrated to the United States in 1912. She was daughter of Elias Dourmashkin,

Rubin studied French Literature at New York University and graduated in 1930. Rubin went on to study anthropology at Columbia University with Ruth Benedict, Margaret Mead, and Julian Steward, who served as her graduate advisor. Rubin purchased the building for the headquarters at 162 East 78th Street in New York City, which also housed the Library for Caribbean Research (LCR). The 1970s marked a period of public interest and discourse surrounding marijuana use in the United States to which their study contributed by reporting that smoking marijuana had no significant adverse effects on users.

Among many other notable studies, Rubin oversaw a partnership between RISM and the Soviet Academy of Sciences to study aging and longevity, focusing on the longevity of a selection of inhabitants of Kentucky and Abkhazia in the Caucasus.

Personal life Rubin married philanthropist Samuel Rubin. They had two children, Reed, and activist Cora Weiss. They later divorced.

Honours In 1981, Rubin was awarded an honorary DHL by Brooklyn College. She was president-elect of the Caribbean Studies Association when she died. Shortly before her death in 1985, Rubin received an honorary doctorate of philosophy from the University of the West Indies.