Pillar of Radcliffe, Bunting-Smith, Dies

Harvard administrators are mourning the loss of Mary I. Bunting-Smith, who used the University as a platform to revolutionize the role of women in society.

Bunting-Smith, the fifth president of Radcliffe College, died on Wednesday at the age of 87 in her home in Hanover, New Hampshire.

During her tenure as president from 1960 to 1972, Bunting-Smith worked to integrate women into Harvard University, introduced the house system to Radcliffe and raised funds for the construction of Hilles Library and Currier House.

Bunting-Smith worked closely with top administrators in the '60s and '70s for the introduction of coeducational housing, according to former Harvard President Derek C. Bok.

"She had a clear-eyed sense of where women were heading at a time when Princeton and Yale were all-male institutions," Bok said in a telephone interview from Sarasota, Fla.

Current Radcliffe President Linda S. Wilson said that Bunting-Smith was a formidable educator.

"Her statesmanship, courage and imperturbability guided Harvard and Radcliffe's alliance during the turbulent period of national unrest," Wilson said in a news release.

When she arrived as president, one of Bunting-Smith's first proposals was to create an institute where woman could overcome a climate of low expectations for women, said Rita N. Brock, the director of the Bunting Institute. The institute was renamed in Bunting-Smith's honor in 1978.

"She knew what she struggled against as a biologist and woman and wanted a place where women would flourish," Brock said.

At the time, the institute was such a revolutionary idea that Bunting-Smith was featured on the cover of Time Magazine, Brock said.

"[The creation of the institute] was very, very timely because people really didn't see the pendulum beginning to shift as early as she did," Bok said.

Since Bunting-Smith founded the institute in 1960, more than 1,300 women have held the one-year fellowships, Brock said.

"The list of Bunting fellows reads like a who's who of achieving women," Brock said. "Anne Sexton was in the first Bunting class and Tillie Olsen in the second. Alice Walker also wrote her first novel at the Institute," Brock said.

Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1910, Bunting-Smith did not attend school until the eighth grade, said Charles I. Bunting, her son.

"[Bunting-Smith] did a great deal of learning on her own, especially with nature," Bunting said. "That early way of being a learner about the world was something that continued through her life."

After receiving her Bachelor's degree from Vassar in 1931 and her doctorate in agricultural bacteriology from the University of Wisconsin in 1934, Bunting-Smith taught at Bennington, where she became aware of the educational discrepancies between men and women, her son said.

"At Bennington in the late '30s, she...became aware that at some institutions at that time science for women was not respected or taken seriously," he said.

After the death of her husband in 1955, Bunting-Smith embarked on a career in college administration in order to be able to support her family, her son said.

Bunting-Smith used her scientific background to implement her ideas, Bunting said.

"[Bunting-Smith] was a scientist and pointed out to people in an effective way that practices at the University did not make rational sense, such as getting a Radcliffe degree even though [women] were getting the same education as men at Harvard," Bunting said.

Bunting-Smith was a visionary who saw Harvard as a platform to implement her ideas, her son said.

"[Bunting-Smith's] ideas were visionary and were on target for what was coming," Bunting said. "The role of women was about to change in society and she was ahead of her time in helping to point the way. [She realized] that half of our population was not fully utilized."

Prior to coming to Harvard, Bunting-Smith taught and performed research at Bennington College, Goucher College, Yale and Wellesley and served as the dean of Douglass College. Bunting-Smith was also a member of the National Science Foundation and was the first woman to serve as a commissioner of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission.

Louise E. Donovan, Bunting-Smith's former executive assistant of 12 years, said the former Radcliffe president was an outdoors enthusiast.

"She had this great interest in life and all parts of it," Donovan said.

Many of Bunting-Smith's colleagues enjoyed working with her, Bok said.

"I thought of her as an older sister, an ideal older sister, a little wiser than you were, not criticizing you all the time, always available with good advice and help," he said.

Bunting-Smith is survived by eight children and step-children, four grandchildren and four children-in-law

"The list of Bunting fellows reads like a who's who of achieving women," Brock said. "Anne Sexton was in the first Bunting class and Tillie Olsen in the second. Alice Walker also wrote her first novel at the Institute," Brock said.

Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1910, Bunting-Smith did not attend school until the eighth grade, said Charles I. Bunting, her son.

"[Bunting-Smith] did a great deal of learning on her own, especially with nature," Bunting said. "That early way of being a learner about the world was something that continued through her life."

After receiving her Bachelor's degree from Vassar in 1931 and her doctorate in agricultural bacteriology from the University of Wisconsin in 1934, Bunting-Smith taught at Bennington, where she became aware of the educational discrepancies between men and women, her son said.

"At Bennington in the late '30s, she...became aware that at some institutions at that time science for women was not respected or taken seriously," he said.

After the death of her husband in 1955, Bunting-Smith embarked on a career in college administration in order to be able to support her family, her son said.

Bunting-Smith used her scientific background to implement her ideas, Bunting said.

"[Bunting-Smith] was a scientist and pointed out to people in an effective way that practices at the University did not make rational sense, such as getting a Radcliffe degree even though [women] were getting the same education as men at Harvard," Bunting said.

Bunting-Smith was a visionary who saw Harvard as a platform to implement her ideas, her son said.

"[Bunting-Smith's] ideas were visionary and were on target for what was coming," Bunting said. "The role of women was about to change in society and she was ahead of her time in helping to point the way. [She realized] that half of our population was not fully utilized."

Prior to coming to Harvard, Bunting-Smith taught and performed research at Bennington College, Goucher College, Yale and Wellesley and served as the dean of Douglass College. Bunting-Smith was also a member of the National Science Foundation and was the first woman to serve as a commissioner of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission.

Louise E. Donovan, Bunting-Smith's former executive assistant of 12 years, said the former Radcliffe president was an outdoors enthusiast.

"She had this great interest in life and all parts of it," Donovan said.

Many of Bunting-Smith's colleagues enjoyed working with her, Bok said.

"I thought of her as an older sister, an ideal older sister, a little wiser than you were, not criticizing you all the time, always available with good advice and help," he said.

Bunting-Smith is survived by eight children and step-children, four grandchildren and four children-in-law