Betsy Wade, '52 M.S., a pioneering journalist at the New York Times for more than four decades whose philanthropic work supported many women at Columbia after her, passed away on Thursday in New York at the age of 92.
The Times calls her "the first woman to edit news" at the paper, apparently an indirect reference to the history of gender-segregated "women's pages" there and at other newspapers. Betsy's Times obituary provides an account of her extraordinary influence and activism on behalf of women in American journalism. Among other things, she served as a board member of the Anne O'Hare McCormick scholarship fund, which continues to support J-School students.
Our thoughts go out to her family, including her surviving husband, James Boylan, a founder of the Columbia Journalism Review almost half a century ago.
