Millicent Carey McIntosh

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Millicent Carey McIntosh, circa 1956

Millicent Carey McIntosh (November 30, 1898 – January 3, 2001) was an educational administrator and American feminist who led the Brearley School (1930–1947), and most prominently Barnard College (1947–1962). The first married woman to head one of the Seven Sisters, she was "considered a national role model for generations of young women who wanted to combine career and family," advocating for working mothers and for child care as a dignified profession.

Early life

McIntosh was born in Baltimore, Maryland on November 30, 1898. Her aunt, M. Carey Thomas, was also a leader in women's education.

McIntosh attended Bryn Mawr College for undergraduate, studied economics at Cambridge University, and earned an English Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University with a thesis on 14th century mystery plays. She was also a teacher and acting Dean at Bryn Mawr. Later, she headed the Brearley School for seventeen years, where she pioneered a sex education class for sixth grade students.

Barnard career

McIntosh became Dean of Barnard College in 1947, and became the institution's first President in 1952. She was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1966.

After Barnard, she helped to found Kirkland College in the 1960s.