The faculty and students of Emory University mourn the passing of Eleanor Catherine Main, who served the university as a teacher and administrator for 39 years. She died in her Atlanta home on February 8, 2008, after a short illness.
Eleanor received a BA from Hunter College in 1963 and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1966. After a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Texas, Austin, she accepted her first tenure-track position at the University of Connecticut. Just two years later she joined the political science department at Emory University.
Eleanor specialized in American politics, with particular interests in urban politics and public policy. Her work always focused on the ways in which government could better assist people. During the 1970s, for example, she did pioneering research evaluating the effectiveness of the federal Model Cities Program, examining the delivery of social services to needy homemakers, and exploring the attitudes of county welfare administrators. Later, she published work on the treatment of women by legislatures and courts. During the 1980s, Eleanor was the associate editor of the Journal of Politics. Throughout her life she remained fascinated with the way in which politics works at the local level with a special focus on the politics of education administration.
When Eleanor came to Emory in 1969, she very quickly became the glue that held a small and very young group of faculty together, particularly after one of our only two senior faculty members left. Like a mother hen she reassured the nine untenured males that we were following the right procedures, publishing in the right journals, telling the students what they needed to do and know, and that we were making the right decisions about our careers and the department. Nearly everyone went to her for advice and guidance, not only about professional, but also about personal matters. It seemed that she was always in the office and always available to talk.
And it was not only faculty who beat a path to her door. Graduate students, undergraduates, staff, and custodians were constant visitors. Eleanor was never too busy to listen to a complaint or a worry. And, she quietly helped those who needed help. Several of the janitorial staff came to her regularly for assistance when they could not make ends meet or faced family emergencies. Students in crisis could always count on Eleanor to come to their aid. Such charitable acts were always done privately with no expectation of fanfare or even repayment.
Eleanor's love for people extended to her devotion to her university. She delighted in finding solutions to institutional problems and implementing them. Immediately after arriving at Emory, she established the first internship program in the college and was influential in creating the State of Georgia Legislative Internship Program, which she headed for 13 years. She originated a track for especially talented undergraduates that allowed them to earn a bachelors and a masters degree in four years. She was instrumental in conceiving and inaugurating an innovative initiative to train graduate students from all disciplines in how to be effective undergraduate teachers.
Eleanor's talents were soon recognized by Emory's administrators who repeatedly lured her away from her teaching and research activities to assume leadership positions. She first served as chair of the political science department and then went on to an uninterrupted string of administrative assignments: associate dean of Emory College, acting dean of Emory College, associate dean of the graduate school, interim dean of the graduate school, and associate provost for graduate studies. In 2001 the university, taking advantage of her expertise in education policy, persuaded Eleanor to lead the Division of Educational Studies, a post she held until her untimely death. Throughout her years at Emory Eleanor served on nearly every important university committee and task force. There was almost no campus initiative that did not bear her fingerprints. In effect, Eleanor became the university's first option when difficult or emergency administrative problems arose. She never shied away from a challenge and she never disappointed. In recognition of her contributions, in 2003 Emory bestowed upon her the Thomas Jefferson Award, its highest tribute for distinguished service and leadership.
Eleanor's administrative prowess was recognized well beyond the boundaries of Emory's campus. Three Georgia governors appointed her to various state departments and commissions. These included such diverse agencies as the Department of Juvenile Justice, the Professional Standards Evaluation Panel, the Committee to Evaluate the State Formula for Education Funding, the Governor's Commission on Effectiveness and Economy in Government, and the Governor's Task Force on Teacher Pay for Performance. These service contributions reflected once again Eleanor's commitment to the goal of making government more responsive to the needs of people.
Eleanor's accomplishments led to several employment offers, including high-ranking state administrative offices and leadership positions at other colleges and universities. While flattered by these opportunities, Eleanor had little interest in higher positions that would involve more bureaucracy and less contact with people. Because of her love for Emory University, she remained a member of the faculty for the rest of her career. In typical Eleanor Main fashion, she spent her final years devoted to Emory's Challenges and Champions program, an initiative to provide special training for junior high school students in academics, health, and physical fitness.
Eleanor was never one to pull her punches. She told students, colleagues, and administrators what they needed to hear, not what they wanted to hear. Her refreshing honesty and straight talk ensured that her counsel was widely sought and often followed. Her premature death is a great loss for Emory and all of those who treasured her. In her honor, The Eleanor Main Endowment at Emory is being established to support graduate student research and the Challenges and Champions program.
