Jill Ker Conway

Australian-American scholar and author (1934-2018)

Jill Ker Conway (9 October 1934 – 1 June 2018) was an Australian-American scholar and author. Well known for her autobiographies, in particular her first memoir, The Road from Coorain, she also was Smith College's first woman president (1975–1985) and most recently served as a visiting professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.²

From Wikipedia’s article on Jill Ker Conway (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born Oct 9, 1934, died Jun 1, 2018.¹

About

In 2004 she was designated a Women's History Month Honoree by the National Women's History Project. She was a recipient of the National Humanities Medal.

From Wikipedia’s article on Jill Ker Conway, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.²

Companies

Smith CollegeChair 1975 to 1985¹⁶

Early life and education

Date not recordedHarvard University³
Date not recordedUniversity of Sydney³

In 1975, Ker Conway became the first female president of Smith College, the largest women's college in the United States. Located in Northampton, Massachusetts, Smith, a private liberal arts college, is the only women's college in the U.S. to grant its own degrees in engineering.

Ker Conway launched the Ada Comstock Scholars program, initially proposed by her predecessor Thomas Mendenhall. This program allows non-traditional students, many with work and family obligations, to study full or part-time, depending on their family and work schedules. These women can take classes for a bachelor's degree over a longer period of time. Conway House, dedicated in 2006, a residence for Ada Comstock Scholars was named in honor of Ker Conway.

One of Ker Conway's more notable accomplishments is a program she initiated to help Ada Comstock Scholars on welfare. At the time, many students who were also welfare mothers were not pursuing higher education, as accepting a scholarship would cause them to lose their welfare benefits. The mothers were forced to choose between supporting their children or furthering their education. By not giving them scholarships but paying their rent instead, Ker Conway circumvented the state's system. She also gave the students access to an account at local stores, access to physicians and so on. ABC's Good Morning America profiled graduates of the program, giving it national exposure. Eventually the state of Massachusetts, convinced about the importance of the program, changed its welfare system so that scholarship students wouldn't lose their benefits.

She also led the creation of the Smith Management Program (now called Smith Executive Education) and the Project on Women and Social Change. She worked to expand the curriculum leading to the development of programs in women's studies, comparative literature, and engineering. Conway took a keen interest in fundraising and under her presidency the endowment nearly tripled from $82 million to $222 million. These efforts enabled several large-scale projects including the construction of the Ainsworth Gymnasium, and expansion of the Neilson Library. The Career Development Office was also expanded under her tenure to better educate alumnae about career opportunities and graduate training.

In 1975, Jill Ker Conway was named by Time as a Woman of the Year.

From Wikipedia’s article on Jill Ker Conway (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Career

Occupation: university teacher, writer, educator, historian, memoirist.⁶

1975 to 1985Chair, Smith College⁵
Date not recordedWorked at University of Toronto⁴
Date not recordedWorked at Massachusetts Institute of Technology⁴
Date not recordedWorked at Smith College⁴

Personal life

BornOct 9, 1934, Hillston⁷
DiedJun 1, 2018, Boston^{8 9}
CitizenshipAustralia, United States^{10 11}

Awards

2013Honorary Companion of the Order of Australia¹²
2012National Humanities Medal^{12 14}
2001Victorian Honour Roll of Women^{12 13}
1989PEN New England Award for The Road from Coorain¹²
Date not recordedHarvard Centennial Medal¹²

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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WikidataJill Ker Conway on Wikidata
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WikipediaJill Ker Conway on Wikipedia
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WikidataJill Ker Conway: education, on Wikidata
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WikidataJill Ker Conway: Worked at University of Toronto, on Wikidata
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WikidataJill Ker Conway: Chair, Smith College, on Wikidata
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WikidataJill Ker Conway: occupation, on Wikidata
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WikidataJill Ker Conway: place of birth, on Wikidata
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WikidataJill Ker Conway: place of death, on Wikidata
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Wikidataplace of death, as reported by Boston Globe
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WikidataJill Ker Conway: citizenship, on Wikidata
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Wikidatacitizenship, as reported
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WikidataJill Ker Conway: award, on Wikidata
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Wikidataaward, as reported
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Wikidataaward, as reported
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WikidataJill Ker Conway: IMDb, on Wikidata
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WikidataSmith College, Chair