Helen Gouldner receives the UD Medal of Distinction from trustee P. Coleman Townsend Jr. at Honors Day on May 5, 2000.

July 26, 2007--Helen Gouldner of Wilmington, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences from 1974-90 and professor emerita of sociology and criminal justice, died July 24. A memorial service will be scheduled on the campus early in the fall semester.

Dr. Gouldner joined the Delaware faculty in 1973 as professor and chairperson of the Department of Sociology, and a year later she became the first woman dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

As dean, she was instrumental in helping the college take important steps in the areas of general education requirements, international education and teacher education. She introduced programs such as the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies Program, centers in archeological research, climate research, disaster research, cognitive science, mathematics teaching and learning, the study of values and drug and alcohol studies, as well as the Professional Theatre Training Program and the Department of Linguistics.

“Dean Gouldner played a major role in shaping the College of Arts and Sciences,” UD Provost Dan Rich said. “A gifted academic administrator and distinguished educator, she guided the college through a period of transformation that greatly strengthened the faculty, enhanced undergraduate and graduate programs, and raised academic standards. Widely recognized for her intellectual curiosity and indomitable spirit, she will be remembered fondly by the many faculty and students she mentored. The University of Delaware today bears the positive imprint of her many contributions as the leader of our largest college.”

“Helen Gouldner was a woman well ahead of her time--strong and independent and with a very sharp mind, clever wit, and enormous generosity and kindness,” Margaret Andersen, Edward F. and Elizabeth Goodman Rosenberg Professor of Sociology, said. “For many of us who were coming along as scholars and teachers, she was a strong role model and a source of great support. Her love of the arts and music, as well as her professional work as a sociologist, and her long-term leadership of the College of Arts and Sciences helped make the college what it is today.”

In recognition of her contributions to the University, she was awarded the Medal of Distinction in 2000. The medal honors those who have made significant contributions to the community, state or region.

Dr. Gouldner was the coauthor of two books, Speaking of Friendship and Modern Sociology and the author_of Teacher's Pets, Troublemakers and Nobodies: Black Children in Elementary School, which won_the Educator's Award of Delta Kappa Gamma Society International in 1979. She served as a member of the board of the World Affairs Council of Wilmington and Common Cause of Delaware.

A graduate of the University of Puget Sound, she received her master's degree from the University of Washington and her doctorate in sociology from the University of California at Los Angeles.

Before coming to Delaware, she taught at Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Illinois, Lindenwood College, Stanford University and San Jose State College.

She is survived by a son, Andrew Ward Gouldner of Wilmington; a sister, Barbara Campbell of Kennewick, Wash.; several nieces and nephews; and many friends.

Contributions in Dr. Gouldner's memory may be made to the Dean Helen P. Gouldner Scholarship Fund at the University of Delaware. Condolences may be sent online at [www.rtfoard.com].