Dorothy Grace Atkinson (''née'' Gillis; 5 August 1929 – 23 January 2016) was an American historian who specialized in Russian history.

Personal life

Atkinson was of Scottish and Italian ancestry. Her father was a labor union leader, while her mother was a

homemaker Homemaking is mainly an American and Canadian term for the management of a home, otherwise known as housework, housekeeping, housewifery or household management. It is the act of overseeing the organizational, day-to-day operations of a hous ...

. She had six brothers. Atkinson was the first in her family to attend college. Atkinson studied history at

Barnard College Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...

and graduated in 1951. She and her husband, Stewart, then moved to California so Atkinson could obtain a graduate degree from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. After obtaining the degree, Atkinson paused her career to raise two children. In 1971, she earned her Ph.D from Stanford University.

Career

Atkinson served as an assistant professor of Russian history at Stanford University from 1973 to 1982. One of her graduate students described Atkinson's teaching style as "engaged and engaging, demanding but kind (a rarity at Stanford at that time)". Another former student noted Atkinson's importance in breaking down barriers for young women in academia in the 1970s. At Stanford, Atkinson was director of the university's Summer Institute for Soviet and East European Studies, holding that post from 1983 until 1986. The Stanford University Press published two of her books on Russian history, one of them a co-edited work with

Alexander Dallin Alexander Davidovich Dallin (21 May 1924 – 22 July 2000) was an American historian, political scientist, and international relations scholar at Columbia University, where he was the Adlai Stevenson Professor of International Relations and the d ...

and Gail Warshofky. During her career, she also wrote dozens of journal articles, book chapters, and reviews. From 1981 until her retirement in 1995, Atkinson served as executive director of the

Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies The Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES) is a scholarly society dedicated to the advancement of knowledge about the former Soviet Union (including Eurasia) and Eastern and Central Europe. The ASEEES supports teachi ...

(ASEEES), taking control of a nearly bankrupt organization that had resulted from a decade of financial mismanagement. Under her leadership, the ASEEES achieved financial solvency, doubled its membership, and increased its international profile.

Publications

Adapted from: * Co-edited with

and Gail Warshofky *

References

Works cited * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Atkinson, Dorothy 1929 births 2016 deaths People from Malden, Massachusetts Barnard College alumni American women historians Historians from Massachusetts 20th-century American historians 21st-century American historians UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science alumni Stanford University alumni 20th-century American women academics 20th-century American academics 21st-century American women academics 21st-century American academics Stanford University Department of History faculty