Esther Tuckerman Allen Gaw (December 28, 1879 – December 27, 1973) was an American psychologist and college administrator. She was

Dean of Women The dean of women at a college or university in the United States is the dean (education), dean with responsibility for student affairs for female students. In early years, the position was also known by other names, including preceptress, lady pri ...

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

from 1927 to 1944.

Early life and education

Esther Tuckerman Allen was born in

Hudson, Ohio Hudson is a city in northern Summit County, Ohio, United States. The population was 23,110 at the 2020 census. It is a suburban community in the Akron metropolitan area. John Brown made his first public vow to destroy slavery here and the ci ...

, and raised in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt ...

, the daughter of

Clarence Emir Allen Clarence Emir Allen (September 8, 1852 – July 9, 1932) was a United States House of Representatives, U.S. Representative from Utah. Born in Girard Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania, Girard Township, Pennsylvania, Allen attended the distri ...

and Corinne Tuckerman Allen. Her father was an educator, a lawyer and a Congressman, and her mother, a

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...

alumna, was an educational reformer and philanthropist. Her younger sister Florence Ellinwood Allen was a suffragist and a judge. Physicist Louis B. Tuckerman was her uncle, and his son, mathematician

Bryant Tuckerman Louis Bryant Tuckerman, III (November 28, 1915 – May 19, 2002) was an American mathematician born in Lincoln, Nebraska. He was a member of the team that developed the Data Encryption Standard (DES). He studied topology at Princeton, where he i ...

, was her cousin. Allen graduated from

Western Reserve University Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US * Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia * Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that ...

. She studied violin at the

Stern Conservatory The Stern Conservatory (''Stern'sches Konservatorium'') was a private music school in Berlin with many distinguished tutors and alumni. The school is now part of Berlin University of the Arts. History It was founded in 1850 as the ''Berliner Mu ...

in Berlin, and earned a PhD at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

in 1919.

Career

Gaw played violin and taught music in Salt Lake City as a young woman, and was founder and conductor of the Salt Lake Woman's Orchestra in 1914. She and two other women founded the University Club of

Iowa City Iowa City is the largest city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. At the time of the 2020 census the population was 74,828, making it the state's fifth-most populous city. The Iowa City metropolitan area, which enc ...

in 1917. She taught at

San Francisco State Teachers College San Francisco State University (San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It was established in 1899 as the San Francisco State Normal School and is part of the Califor ...

, and was Associate Dean of Women at

Mills College Mills College at Northeastern University in Oakland, California is part of Northeastern University's global university system. Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it was relocated to Oakland in ...

, where she was also a professor of psychology. She was the Dean of Women at Ohio State University from 1927 until 1944. She was a speaker and lecturer on women's education and Latin America. In 1939 she attended the

Pan-American Union The Organization of American States (OAS or OEA; ; ; ) is an international organization founded on 30 April 1948 to promote cooperation among its member states within the Americas. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, the OAS is ...

's Peace Conference held in Lima, Peru. In retirement, Gaw lived in California, where she was active in adult education and continued her international travels. She donated her mother's papers to the Harvard Racliffe Institute in 1952.

Publications

Gaw published her academic research and writing in scholarly journals including ''Psychological Monographs,'' ''

The Journal of Higher Education ''The Journal of Higher Education'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal covering higher education. The journal was established in 1930. It is published by Taylor & Francis. Previously, it was published by Ohio State University Press. Th ...

'', ''

The Journal of Educational Research ''The Journal of Educational Research'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal covering research into education. It was established in 1920 and is published by Taylor & Francis. The editor-in-chief is Mary F. Heller (University of Hawaiʻi � ...

,'' ''Educational Research Bulletin,'' ''The Psychological Clinic,'' '' Bulletin of the Pan American Union'',Gaw, Esther Allen
"The University of Chile and its summer school."
''Bull. Pan Am. Union'' 72 (1938): 512.Gaw, Esther Allen
"Heredia, Costa Rica."
''Bull. Pan Am. Union'' 75 (1941): 225. and ''

Pi Lambda Theta Pi Lambda Theta (ΠΛΘ) is one of three main education honor societies and professional associations for educators in the United States. Basic information Pi Lambda Theta is both an honor society and professional association for education, e ...

Journal.'' * "A Revision of the Consonance Test" (1918) * "The Talent Survey in our Music School" (1920) * "A survey of musical talent in music school" (1922) * "Some Individual Difficulties in the Study of Music" (1922) * "Five Studies of the Music Tests" (1928) * "Social Education" (1930) * "Techniques for Social Education" (1930) * "Teaching Student Assistants to Use Objective Aids in Their Interviews with Younger Students" (1930) * "Advising Means Administration" (1933) * "The University of Chile and its Summer School" (1938) * "Education in Chile" (1938) * "Five Women of South America: Pioneering Educators of Peru and Chile" (1939) * "We the Deans" (1940) * "Heredia, Costa Rica" (1941) * "Case-Study Techniques" (1943) * "A National Institution: El Colegio Del Uruguay" (1944)

Personal life

Esther Allen married Henry Clinton Gaw in 1910. Their son was Emir Allen Gaw. Henry Gaw died in 1912. She died in 1973, aged 93 years, in

Sonoma, California Sonoma () is a city in Sonoma County, California, United States, located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Sonoma is one of the principal cities of California's Wine Country and the center of the Sonoma Valley AVA. Sonoma' ...

. Biologist Esther Gaw McLaughlin is her granddaughter and namesake.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaw, Esther Allen 1879 births 1973 deaths People from Hudson, Ohio Case Western Reserve University alumni Ohio State University faculty Mills College faculty University of Iowa alumni 20th-century American psychologists Deans of women American violinists American women violinists American women psychologists