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2001

LIfe of Learning headerMany people ask her about her experience being a woman in a field that still is decidedly male. She acknowledges that she often was the only woman in her department. And no doubt it was difficult at times. But, like Creighton and Vennesland, she chose to nurture the next generation of women scientists by being a role model and mentor instead of a firebrand. McClellan still recalls her first meeting with Helen. “Here she was, in a small basement lab with cement sinks and brick walls, working with several students. She had a viable research program that had been funded by NSF. She was so relaxed and obviously enjoying her career, without actually saying it. That was more potent to me than any other recruiting message.”

That professionalism and dedication earned her uniform respect. Eric Conn, retired professor of botany from the University of California – Davis and a former colleague of Stafford’s at the University of Chicago, puts it best: “Helen is not only recognized internationally for her research, but also as an influential teacher in one of the country’s premier undergraduate colleges. She has shown her students the excitement, pleasure, and rewards of a distinguished research career.”
Stafford pictures
It’s characteristic that Stafford will help future generations benefit from Reed’s high-level educational experience. By living simply and investing wisely for many years, Helen was able to endow the $1 million Morton O. Stafford Jr. scholarship at Reed in memory of her brother, who was killed in World War II.

Today, while Stafford is a little less adventurous, she stays active. She still swims regularly and attends chamber music performances. But arthritis in her shoulders makes gardening harder. And although she no longer walks to her office at Reed every day, she and Brownie do drive in most weekdays. There she keeps up on correspondence, tracks the latest research, edits review articles, and visits with her colleagues. Dalton says respectfully that she remains the “watchdog of the literature.” Fourteen years after retiring, she still edits, comments on, and congratulates her colleagues’ work. She adheres to the rigorous research, writing, and teaching standards that underlie her accomplishments.

In some ways, it’s a little like those days back in the mid-’50s, when she and three other smart and energetic professors transformed Reed’s biology department into a national leader.
End of Article

Marnie McPhee is a freelance writer in Portland.

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2001