Biographical profile |
Barbara Elizabeth Reck Hastorf was born in Syracuse, New York in 1922. Upon graduating from high school in Montclair, New Jersey, she matriculated at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, where she majored in economics. While at Mount Holyoke, she took a psychology course taught by John W. Gardner. Also, she met her husband-to-be, Albert Hastorf, who was a student at nearby Amherst College. They married in 1943. She and her husband later reconnected with Gardner after his return to Stanford in 1989. Hastorf accompanied her husband as he pursued his graduate studies at Princeton University. Their first daughter, Elizabeth Hastorf, was born while they were at Princeton. Hastorf and her family then moved in 1948 to Dartmouth College where Albert started his teaching career in the psychology department. Their second daughter, Christine, was born while they were at Dartmouth. In 1961, the family moved to California when Albert accepted a faculty position at Stanford University. Hastorf was very active on the Stanford campus in a number of different roles. She was involved in social planning for the psychology department, and hosted events for faculty members and students at her house. She served as an advisor for Stanford students along with her husband. She was also a member of the Stanford Faculty Women’s Club. When her family lived in the famous Hanna Honeycomb House, she was responsible for overseeing its maintenance. She volunteered as a Stanford Auxiliary “pink lady” at the Stanford Hospital. She also worked to promote the arts on campus, including through her involvement in Treasure Market, the Committee for Art board, and the Music Guild. Hastorf played an important role in supporting her husband as he served in various capacities at Stanford, including as dean of the School of Humanities & Sciences and as provost of Stanford University. She also assisted her husband with his research in psychology.
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