Sad News: Elaine Lipschutz

June 5, 2024

Dear all,

I am writing with the sad news of the death of Elaine Lipschutz, who was a founding member of the Education Department when she came to Vassar in 1962. She died at home in Poughkeepsie on June 2nd.

Prior to coming to Vassar, Elaine taught social studies for many years in the Arlington School District. In that position she worked extensively with Vassar students who came to the school for their student teaching experience, and she recruited many of her fellow teachers as mentors for Vassar students. Her broad approach to the teaching of social studies, incorporating art, music and literature into the study of history, had a profound influence on students learning to be teachers. After she joined the Vassar department as a full-time instructor in 1979, she was instrumental in expanding teacher preparation programs beyond social studies, to include language arts, math, science and foreign languages. She also played a significant role in extending teacher training to include non-Western cultures.

She herself was a beloved mentor to many generations of Vassar students, making life-long friends of many of the students she inspired to become teachers. After she retired in 1992, her colleagues and former students honored her dedication to the department and to her students and the richness her years of teaching in the public school system brought to the curriculum by establishing the Elaine Lipschutz Memorial Lecture, where she could always be found sitting in the front row. She will be deeply missed by her colleagues and former students.

Elizabeth H. Bradley, President
Vassar College
Poughkeepsie, NY 12604
@EHBVassar