Hall of Distinguished Alumni
Sarah Gibson Blanding
Born
in Fayette County, Ky., on November 22, 1898. Died, March 3, 1985. Educator. Administrator. Consultant
to government. University of Kentucky, A.B. degree, 1923.
Educated
in the public schools of Lexington, she was a graduate of the New Haven Normal
School of Gymnastics, the University of Kentucky (B.A. 1923), Columbia University
(M.A. 1926), and studied at the London School of Economics (1928-29).
She
began her career in education at the University, where she was an Instructor
of physical education, Dean of Women, and Assistant Professor of political science.
She was Dean of Women from 1924 to 1941.
In
1941 she was named Director, and in 1942 Dean of the New York State College
of Home Economics, Cornell University. She was President of Vassar College,
Poughkeepsie, New York, 1946-64, the first woman to hold the position. She retired
in 1964.
The
University awarded her the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws in 1946.
She
also served as President of the National Association, Deans of Women. She was
appointed by Governor Dewey of New York as Director of Human Nutrition for the
State of New York, and as a member of the Temporary Commission to Study the
Need for a State University of New York.
President
Roosevelt appointed her to the Committee on Welfare and Recreation, during World
War II, and to the Board of Economic Cooperation Commission.
In
all the appointments to various presidential commissions, she was the only woman
named, including President Truman's Commission on Higher Education, the First
Board of Foreign Scholarships administering Fulbright Scholarships, and the
National Committee that chose the first Marshall Fellowships.
She
was decorated by the U. S. War Department for exceptional civilian service,"
and was elected an honorary member of Phi Beta Kappa by the University of Kentucky
chapter. Blanding Tower and its affiliated low-lying buildings of the Kirwan-Blanding
Complex at UK is named in her honor.
She
has been the recipient of 18 honorary degrees from various colleges and universities,
and a scholarship was established in her honor by the alumnae of the New York
State College of Home Economics.
The Sarah Gibson Blanding endowed
chair was established at Vassar by 1,919 alumnae.
Sarah Gibson Blanding was named
to the Hall of Distinguished Alumni in February 1965.