CORA JIPSON BECKWITH
1875 — 1955
Members of the college comunity were saddened to
learn of the death of Cora Jipson Beckwith, profes-
sor emeritus of Zoology. Following a number of years
of flail health she died in Washington on January 9.
1955, in her eightieth year.
Miss Beckwith joined the Zoology Department as an
assistant in 1900, upon her graduation from the
University of Michigan. With the aid of leaves she
completed her graduate study while serving at Vassar
College, receiving the doctorate of philosophy frm
Columbia University in l9lh. She was chairman of
the department at the time of her retirement in l9hO.
Throughout her career Cora Beckwith was an outstanding
teacher and member of the college community. She was
quiet, dignified and unassuming. She was interested
in people. Her lifelong tenure at Vassar was devoted
to the well-being of the college in all its aspects.
She expected, and obtained, precise thoughtful work
from her students; she herself was capable of careful
detail, prodigious amounts of work, and withal showed
nice qualities of judgment. She contributed much to
important comittees, notably those on the curriculum
and research. In addition, for three years in her
earlier days she served as an associate warden in
Strong House.
The teaching of histology, embryology and cytology,
which she carried on over a long period of years,
calls for the training of students in precise and
delicate techniques, and at the same time for the
development of difficult concepts. »Her natural
qualities of dexterity, easiness of movement, and
clarity of thought contributed to her success as a
teacher. Her own shinin example was frequently the
light which illuminated difficulties for the students.
Her research was along cytological lines, especially
associated with the lateral line organs of Amia calva and
the cytology of the germ cells of the hydroids. She was
elected to many scientific societies, and was a life
member of the corporation of the Marine Biological
Laboratory at Woods Hole, where in her younger days she
CORA JIPSON BECKWITH (Continued)
spent many summers. While in he later years
research and visits to Woods Hole were not feasible,
she always retained her interest. She encouraged
and aided members of her department to share these
interests.
After her retirement from teaching in l9h0 she con-
tinued to live in Williams Hall, and during this
period was deeply concerned with the welfare and
interests of her friends and associates. Later, in
1950, she moved to Washington to be with her two
sisters who had retired also. Those who were able to
visit her there sensed her solicitude for her sisters,
and realized that this was another manifestation of
a principle which had guided her throughout her life.
The people with whom she came in contact, the college
and the department of zoology particularly, owe her a
deep debt of gratitude.
Edith Fahnestock
Mary Landon Sague
Rudolf T. Kempton
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