Remembering Dorothy Zinberg

Dorothy Zinberg, our colleague, friend, and founding member of the Belfer Center, passed away on April 14, 2020. She was 92. Colleagues and friends share their remembrances and stories of Zinberg, who first came to Harvard as a research assistant and then a graduate student in biochemistry in the early 1950s.

Please send additional remembrances to sharon_wilke@hks.harvard.edu

For those who wish to make a donation in Dorothy's memory, her daughters have asked that donations be made to: Women's Lunch Place, Newbury Street, Boston. Notifications of donations will be sent to dzinberg.asst@gmail.com

Ash Carter (Belfer Center Director)

“Colleagues:

Our dear friend Dorothy Zinberg passed away this morning. This is a truly sad day for all of us. The Center has lost one of its founding visionaries. The world has lost a great scientist. And generations of female scholars have lost a trailblazing mentor and champion.

Newer members of the Belfer Center community may know Dorothy primarily as the energetic and frequent VIP guest at seminars and director’s lunches. Her questions were invariably incisive, reflecting a spirit of curiosity that spanned a lifetime of learning. Longtime Belfer members know that Dorothy, together with Paul Doty, Michael Nacht, Steve Miller, and Al Carnesale, helped found this Center and carried out its mission. From the outset, they envisioned an intellectual community that would combine the spirit of science and the life of the mind with practical affairs.

Dorothy personified this spirit. It’s no wonder that she was awarded the Harvard Signet Society’s prestigious Signet Award a few years ago. In bestowing the honor, the Society saluted Zinberg for “bringing science to society and society to science.’ It is a fitting description of her life’s work, and of the academic environment that she has done so much to cultivate here. As Graham Allison notes: ‘Dorothy was a pillar of BCSIA—long before it became the Belfer Center. She enlivened every occasion, had a vigorous interest in intersections between science and public policy in every arena, and a deep commitment to our common cause.’

Drawing from her own remarkable background as both a biochemist and sociologist, Zinberg has mentored generations of scientists, especially women, helping them apply their research effectively on behalf of a more secure, peaceful world. A member of several outstanding boards, a distinguished author, a prolific writer, and a perennial student, Dorothy never forgot the simple but profound rewards of inspiring students to learn. ‘I might have the title of teacher but I have learned as much from students as they have from me,’ she once said.

It’s difficult to imagine the Center without Dorothy. She was a singular character, a fiercely independent scholar, and a very good friend. We will miss her greatly. We’ll be gathering more tributes in the days ahead, but I wanted to share this sad news with you today.

In a very personal sense, her passing hits me hard. Dorothy had a great deal to do with bringing me from science to public affairs, and from MIT to Harvard and back to Harvard from Washington several times. When I lived on the third floor of a neighbor’s house, as an MIT postdoc, she would invite me to soirées at her house with all sorts of famous figures from Jim Watson (of Watson and Crick) to John Kenneth Galbraith. Once she didn’t feel like cooking, so she took me to Julia Child’s house for rabbit. First time, and last, I ever ate rabbit. Knowing Dorothy was a uniquely enriching experience — for us and for our Center.”

Doug Elmendorf (Harvard Kennedy School Dean)

“Dear Colleagues,

I was deeply sorry to learn yesterday of the passing of Dorothy Zinberg. Dorothy had been a lecturer in public policy at Harvard Kennedy School, a long-time affiliate of our Center for Public Leadership, a founding member of our Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, a compelling advocate for the Kennedy School, and a beloved member of the Harvard University community for many decades.

Dorothy first came to Harvard as a research assistant and then a graduate student in biochemistry in the early 1950s. She received her PhD in the social science of medicine at Harvard in 1966 and taught in Harvard’s sociology department before becoming a lecturer in public policy and affiliating with the Belfer Center in 1978. Dorothy remained an associate of the Belfer Center and also had an office in CPL, where her next-door neighbor for a while was Larry Bacow. Larry recalled yesterday Dorothy’s deep devotion to the Kennedy School and how much he enjoyed his conversations with her.

Dorothy’s research interests during her many years at the Kennedy School focused on science and technology policy and international security studies, including the attitudes of scientists involved in nonproliferation activities, the effects of the commercialization of science, and the education and career development of scientists and engineers. She was a fierce advocate for gender equity at Harvard and beyond. In 2001 she told the Harvard Gazette that she had realized, early in her career, that she did not want to be a ‘brilliant man’s bright young assistant,’ so she forged her own inspired academic path, publishing work in many top peer-reviewed scientific publications. She was also on the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s first committee on women’s issues.

Graham Allison, the founding dean of the modern Kennedy School and a former director of the Belfer Center, noted that ‘Dorothy was a pillar of the Center. …  She enlivened every occasion, had a vigorous interest in intersections between science and public policy in every arena, and had a deep commitment to our common cause.’ Ash Carter, who now serves as the Belfer Center’s director, said, ‘In a very personal sense, her passing hits me hard. Dorothy had a great deal to do with bringing me from science to public affairs, and from MIT to Harvard and back to Harvard from Washington several times.’ And David Ellwood, who was dean before me, described her yesterday as ‘a force of nature.’ He said, ‘She was passionate about science and technology policy, and she was equally passionate about people. She held the most interesting and most eclectic gatherings in Cambridge. She served as a mentor to virtually every dean.’

I feel lucky to have been one of the deans whom Dorothy mentored and to have had the opportunity to talk with her on many occasions—at the School, in her house, and at School events in different cities, which she loved to attend in order to promote the School. We are a better and stronger place because of Dorothy’s commitment to our cause. I will miss her very much, as will we all.”

Al Carnesale (Founding Member, Belfer Center; former Dean, HKS; Chancellor Emeritus, UCLA) 

"As a sociologist, Dorothy studied human social relationships. She did that extremely well; but even more outstanding was her ability to forge and maintain such relationships. Her network of admiring colleagues and friends was remarkably large and even more remarkably diverse. It included, but was not at all limited to, distinguished scholars in many fields and students in even more, members of royal families, political leaders at all levels of U.S. and foreign governments, titans of industry, university leaders and far-les-well-recognized staff, and household-name celebrities of all kinds. And it was clear to all that Dorothy was at the center of this web of personalities. Those of us who were fortunate enough to have been part of her network will be forever grateful. She will be sorely missed."

Michael Nacht (Founding Member and Directing Staff, Belfer Center; Former Dean, University of California, Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy) 

"I WAS DEEPLY SADDENED TO LEARN OF THE RECENT PASSING OF DOROTHY ZINBERG, A FRIEND AND COLLEAGUE FOR MORE THAN FOUR DECADES. 

I FIRST MET DOROTHY IN 1973 WHEN I HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF BEING A FOUNDING MEMBER OF THE DIRECTING STAFF OF THE PROGRAM FOR SCIENCE AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS (PSIA), THE PREDECESSOR ORGANIZATION TO THE BELFER CENTER, WHICH WAS ESTABLISHED BY THE NOTED BIOCHEMIST PAUL DOTY. 

DOROTHY WAS THE HEART AND SPIRIT OF PSIA AND OF THE BELFER CENTER THROUGOUT PAUL’S TENURE AS DIRECTOR AND BEYOND.  HER SPECIAL CHARM, COMMITMENT TO THE STUDY OF SCIENCE POLICY, AND SHREWD JUDGE OF TALENT AND STYLE WERE HIGHLY VALUED BY PAUL AND THE ENTIRE PSIA COMMUNITY. 

AN AMUSING ANECDOTE ILLUSTRATES THE POINT.  DOROTHY DESIGNED THE SPACE FOR PSIA AT 9 DIVINITY AVENUE IN A CONVERTED CHEMISTRY LABORATORY BEFORE IT LATER MOVED TO THE NEW KENNEDY SCHOOL BUILDING.  IN 1976, PAUL WAS NOTIFIED THAT SECRETARY OF STATE HENRY KISSINGER WAS PLANNING TO VISIT THE HARVARD CAMPUS FOR THE FIRST TME SINCE HE JOINED THE NIXON ADMINISTRATION IN 1969.  HE WISHED TO HAVE TWO MEETINGS:  WITH THE PSIA COMMUNITY ON THE FUTURE OF THE SALT II NUCLEAR ARMS AGREEMENT, AND WITH STANLEY HOFFMANN AND COLLEAGUES AT THE CENTER FOR EUROPEAN STUDIES ON EUROCOMMUNISM. 

PAUL SET UP BOTH MEETINGS. 

KISSINGER ARRIVED AT PSIA WITH A MOTORCADE OF THREE CADILLAC STRETCH LIMOUSINES DOWN THE NARROW DIVINITY THOROUGHFARE.  HE WAS GREETED BY MANY OF HIS FORMER COLLEAGUES INCLUDING RICHARD NEUSTADT, THOMAS SCHELLING AND SAMUEL HUNTINGTON.  WHEREAS THE HARVARD COMMUNITY WAS LARGELY SUPPORTIVE OF THE NIXON/KISSINGER POLICIES TOWARD THE SOVIET UNION AND CHINA, IT WAS HIGHLY CRITICAL OF ITS VIETNAM POLICY, INCURSION IN TO CAMBODIA, AND ACTIVITIES IN CHILE LEADING TO THE OVERTHROW OF PRESIDENT ALLENDE. 

THERE WAS PALPABLE TENSION IN THE ROOM WHEN THE SECRETARY ENTERED.  DOROTHY SET UP A LOVELY CLOTH TO COVER THE MAIN CONFERENCE ROOM TABLE.  SHE HAD PLACED IN KISSINGER’S SPOT A BRIGHT YELLOW PLASTIC COFFEE MUG AND A MATCHING PLATE.  ON THE PLATE WAS A LARGE POWDER-COVERED JELLY DOUGHNUT. 

DOTY BEGAN WITH A BRIEF INTRODUCTION AND WELCOMED THE SECRETARY BACK TO HARVARD.  THEN JACK RUINA FROM MIT ASKED A COMPLEX QUESTION ABOUT THE VERIFICATION OF NUCEAR VS. CONVENTIONALY-ARMED CRUISE MISSILES.  IT TOOK A FEW MINUTES FOR RUINA TO COMPLETE THE QUESTION.  DURING THIS TIME, KISSINGER TOTALLY CONSUMED THE DOUGHNUT AND USED HIS FINGERS TO POLISH OFF THE SPECKS OF POWDER ON THE PLATE!  HE THEN RESPONDED WITH A TOUR DE FORCE COVERING MILITARY, POLITICAL AND DIPLOMATIC ISSUES.  IT WAS A MEMORABLE EXPERIENCE. 

DOROTHY HAD A VAST NETWORK OF IMPORTANT CONTACTS IN ENGLAND, CONTINENTAL EUROPE, IRAN AND THE MIDDLE EAST.   THESE WERE PUT TO GOOD USE FOR THE APPOINTMENT OF RESEARCH FELLOWS, SEMINAR SPEAKERS, AND RESEARCH COLLABORATORS.  DOROTHY WAS SIMPLY INVALUABLE AS THE PROGRAM AND THEN THE CENTER BECAME PROMINENT ACADEMICALLY AND INTERNATIONALLY. 

AN ACCOMPLIISHED SCHOLAR, SHE MADE TIME TO HOST VAST NUMBERS OF THE HARVARD COMMUNITY AT HER HOME.  EVERY SESSION WAS THOROUGHLY ENJOYABLE. 

DOROTHY WAS A UNIQUE FIGURE, BELOVED BY ALL WITH WHOM SHE BEFRIENDED.  I WILL MISS HER IMMENSELY."

Karen Motley (Executive Editor, Belfer Center Studies in International Security)

“I am devastated to hear of Dorothy’s passing. She was such a singular, special person. We were office neighbors for many years, during which time I began editing a monthly column she wrote and sometimes meeting with her to discuss her other writing projects. I also had the pleasure of attending some of Dorothy’s famous parties, which were famous for good reason. She was an exceptional mentor to this non-scientist and gave wonderful advice, mostly in her typical saucy fashion. Her pathbreaking career, joie de vivre, brilliant wit, and incisive commentary on all manner of things leave me feeling honored to have known her.”

Watch a celebration of Dorothy Shore Zinberg's life

Kevin Ryan (Associate, Belfer Center )

"At any seminar on any topic, Dorothy Zinberg could pull out a memory or experience that revealed the breadth and depth of her professional life. She was a true pioneer in her many endeavors and a kind soul to others. I will miss her."

Iqbal Quadir (Senior Fellow, Belfer Center)

"Dorothy Zinberg was an amazingly kind person. In 2001, when I started teaching at HKS, I had no prior teaching experience. Dorothy descended from somewhere and helped me think through my class. I always fondly remember this very kind gesture and actual help."

Venky Narayanamurti (Benjamin Peirce Research Professor of Technology and Public Policy)

"Dorothy’s passing was a big shock for me. She was passionate about the important role of science and technology policy to address larger issues facing society. When I was SEAS Dean she reached out to me and introduced several junior faculty at HKS working on internet policy to foster collaboration with like- minded faculty in computer science. After I came to the Belfer Center as STPP director in 2009 she became an early and important partner in recognizing the role of governance in technology policy for the emerging Cyber era. Along with Susan Crawford, now of the Law School, she and I organized a major conference in 2010 on various aspects of technology and governance (from cybersecurity and privacy to democracy).  A far sighted person - I will miss her engaging and forceful presence!"

Joseph S. Nye (Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor)

"Dorothy was a pillar of the Center and the School.  She was a great help to me as director and later as dean. She cared deeply about both institutions as well as helping younger scholars. We will miss her."

Sidney Topol (Advisory Board Member, Carr Center for Human Rights Policy)

"My deepest condolences."

John Park (Director, Belfer Center's Korea Project)

"Dorothy was an incredible presence at the Belfer Center.  The ease with which she engaged us made Belfer feel like home.  When I first arrived as a predoc fellow in the late 1990s, she walked up to a group of us newbies during orientation.  Her warmth and wit became our first and lasting welcome to the community.  An invitation to one of her famous dinner gatherings at her house soon followed.  She made sitting next to an opera singer and a Supreme Court Justice the most natural thing in the world and drew us all into the conversation.  Over the years, a sweet congratulatory note would follow the launch of a new Korea Project initiative.  I'll miss her."

Gretchen Bartlett (Sr. Associate Director, Project on Managing the Atom)

“Warmest regards, Warmest thoughts, Thanks for your patience, Looks fabulous, Thanks again for a splendid, elegant invitation. Happy holidays..barring Armageddon. I am so appreciative for your friendship. Love the yellow.” 

A few snippets from Dorothy’s emails to me, many about invitations she had asked me to design. I am not sure how I became Dorothy’s social-secretary-in-a-pinch, but when she was entertaining the Brits, cooties-I-was-it. This was a rather odd turn of events since she had a personal assistant and the only graphic design tool in my empty arsenal was “Paint.” No matter. We persisted, often exchanging dozens of emails until – in Goldilocks fashion – Dorothy would proclaim, “it was just right!” 

Later the pin money, scented candle, Bhabha au rum or silk trésor from China would arrive – unexpected compensation for a job well done. Sometimes sent via courier, sometimes delivered in person. The latter were accompanied by a fireside chat. Peu importe. My reward came from the joyful exchanges which led to getting it just right. 

The photo is one from Dorothy’s collection: she is standing at 10 Downing Street, bien sur. Where else?! We inserted it in a long-lost invitation from 2010 (using afore-mentioned “Paint” tool).

How I ended up helping Cambridge’s very own grande dame, [she was, after all, my childhood hero Julia Child’s neighbor] – escapes me. I think it was the chemo, but that’s a story for another day. Bottom line: Dorothy became a real-life down-the-hall when-not-across-the-pond hero. She had many admirable traits: dazzling wit, unexpected feistiness, and a persuasive voice that she put to good purpose. 

Dorothy’s ability to remember and retell the great feasts, jaunts & rencontres of her life were the flame that drew most moths. Here is a snippet from my final email to DZ – this one saved in a Draft folder – hopefully, I’ve managed to get it ‘just right' -- 

“Un grand merci for being so gentle always with me. I will come see you at Mount Auburn often – once they open those blessed gates. Promise. (You should know I never make promises.) P.S. Chartreuse becomes you! - Gretchen"

John Holdren (Co-Director, Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program, Belfer Center)

"Dorothy Zinberg was an important figure, working closely with Paul Doty, in the founding in 1973 and early shaping of the Kennedy School’s Center for Science and International Affairs (which in 1997 was re-endowed as the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs).  She remained an intensely engaged and highly productive member of the Center until her death.  She was a deep thinker about the intersection of science and technology with public affairs, reflecting her expertise in both biochemistry and sociology, and she was a friend and mentor to all who came to Harvard after her to work at this intersection.  She was also an exceptionally warm, witty, and humane person.  Much loved by all who knew her, she will be deeply missed."

Tom Simons (U.S. Ambassador (ret); Visiting Scholar, Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard University)

"Dorothy was precious to me not as a scholar and colleague but as an older friend. It was not long after I came up to Harvard as a Ph.D. candidate in 1958 that I was introduced to her and Norman by their friends Claude Levy, dead by his own hand these fifty-plus years, and friend-for-life Tom Lehrer. Norman was the brilliant, curmudgeonly analyst doing pioneer work on drugs in American society; brilliant sociologist Dorothy had worked with David Riesman on The Lonely Crowd. They all took me with them to their play-reading group, with B.F. Skinner and aphorist Felicia Lamport and her scholarly husband Judge Ben Kaplan and a dozen other luminaries beyond my ken.

There were echoes of great parties on the Cape, but together they were also new parents in their big house on Scott Street, and after I returned to Cambridge in 2001 after my Foreign Service career, Dorothy was fond on introducing me as a former ambassador who had dated her babysitter (true). Mainly they just took me in, and I would sit rapt at their table and let the brilliance flow over me. After I left in 1963 and married, with Claude and Tom as ushers, our contacts were more intermittent: on home leave Dorothy would regale us with stories of integrating Harvard and Radcliffe (and saving Radcliffe for the Institute); she would visit her friend Shirley Williams while I was serving in London; in my retirement here there have been small dinners at our little house, grand parties at hers; every year we were in town together we would meet in our Ph.D. robes on the faculty bleachers at Commencement, I because I enjoyed the imposture, she because she was good friends with half the others.

Always brilliant, often acerbic, she had no real malice, her friends knew it, and she was indefatigable in her friendships. She carried that golden time when we first met, as we were moving out of the 1950s but before the 1960s turned nasty, through her whole life: she would laughingly call herself the Duchess of Cambridge. “My hero,” she said to me in her robe the last time I handed her into her waiting hired car. Among all the things she was -- scholar, innovator, lover, friend -- she was also a postwar phenomenon in American life, a self-made genuine grande dame. And loving things British as she did, Dorothy would scoff, but also not mind my invoking for her a line that Housman wrote in another context: she carries back bright to the maker the mintage of man."

David Gergen (Founding Director, Center for Public Leadership; Professor of Public Leadership, HKS) 

"With the death of Dorothy Zinberg, one of the brightest stars in the Harvard firmament has sadly gone dim. She was a force in this community for some seven decades, forming close friendships with at least three generations of faculty, students and staff. We are unlikely to see her likes again for a long while.

Dorothy first came to Harvard as a graduate student in the early 50s. She wound up getting a Ph.D. in the social science of medicine, married a prominent psychoanalyst and professor of psychiatry at the Medical School, Norman Zinberg, and eventually became a research associate to Eric Erikson at Harvard Graduate School of Education. Norman did pioneering work on treatments for drug abuse.

Dorothy and Norman developed a remarkable network of good friends around the university in the 60s and 70s who enjoyed — as best I can tell — high spirited lives. For a number of years the Zinbergs lived on Frances Street where they where close neighbors with the Moynihans and Galbraiths. Residents liked to boast they had the only street in America with two neighbors who had served as ambassadors to India — not to mention the strong influence they had on U.S. public policy.

After Norman died in 1989, Dorothy moved to the other side of Cambridge (near Mt. Auburn St.) and her home became a well-attended salon where one would run into a mélange of fascinating characters from the satiric folk song musician, Tom Lehrer, to Nobelists in science to a handful of students she was mentoring. Conversations were sparkling. No one knew how, living alone, she pulled it off but she stayed at the center of the Harvard swirl for decades.

She loved her years with Erik Erikson pursuing his research on psychosocial theories of development as she did her years with Derek Bok, when in his presidency, he asked her to be his informal advisor on issues relating to the advancement of women. Dorothy became quite a feminist in those years and was until she died.

Dorothy played a significant role in the launch of two centers at Harvard Kennedy School. Ash Carter has attested to the contributions she made to the Belfer Center; she became friends with Ash when he was pursuing a Ph.D. in physics, often ensuring he went to bed at night with a full, rich stomach (as Ash has written, Dorothy had Julia Child cook for him once). Dorothy was also close to at least two other key figures at Belfer, Al Carnesale and Paul Doty.

I can attest that Dorothy also made significant contributions to the launch and rise of the Center for Public Leadership. From early days together as graduate students, she forged close bonds with Mort Zuckerman, staying among his guests each summer at his home in the Hamptons. She was also an ambassador for CPL in the creation of the Zuckerman Fellowships (a program that inspired many other donors to start their own programs). For several years running, Dorothy hosted a dinner in her home for Mort to spent time with his Fellows. More recently, she was a bridge builder to Mort’s two nephews, Eric and Jamie, who are now on the CPL advisory board. Dorothy in recent years was housed at CPL, where she counseled me and, this past year, Wendy Sherman.

Dorothy’s many friendships over the past decades stretched to Memorial Church, where she was a close confidante with the Reverend Peter Gomes along with Diana Eck and Dorothy Austin. Peter taught a popular undergraduate courses for many years on the history of Harvard; Dorothy was a gold mine of good stories and insights.

Finally, I might say a word about the relationship that my wife Anne and I enjoyed with Dorothy. I can’t quite put my finger on the flow over the years but we became a part of her inner circle and were privileged to spend many a dinner with her at the Charles, perhaps followed by a film. We knew we could count on her for a stimulating conversation, lots of laughs and — count on it — juicy gossip. Our last dinner with her was a few nights before she died; she was frail but in good spirits. To this day, I have appreciated a conversation I had with her some two decades ago whether I should leave Washington to join the Harvard Kennedy School faculty. Her enthusiasm about life there and at the Kennedy School was pivotal in our decision to come. She was a dear woman to us for decades and we will miss her for decades to come."

Joe McCarthy (Senior Associate Dean and Director of Degree Programs) 

"Dorothy Z. never suffered fools gladly. Indeed, she rarely suffered them at all. I was a rare but fortunate exception to the rule. I greatly valued my interactions with “the lady with the big glasses,” as our son referred to her when he was a toddler.  Both Dorothy and the late great Edith Stokey brought to the Kennedy School’s formerly very macho culture a much needed modicum of sense and sensibility, and I was lucky early in my Harvard career to have been the beneficiary of their sage advice and to have enjoyed their wry witticisms.
In my official role, I was also grateful to Dorothy for being a wise mentor for students, especially smart young women interested in National Security studies. The lady with the big glasses will be missed."

Sharon Wilke (Associate Director of Communications, Belfer Center) 

"I always looked forward to talking with Dorothy when she dropped by my office and when I saw her at events, because she inevitably had something sigificant to say or a fascinating experience to recount. She was a renaissance woman whose zest for life, interest in the world of ideas, and dedication to helping young scholars were obvious. She and I shared an interest in the Center’s history and I loved hearing her stories about the early days and people. She was a longtime friend of Center founder Paul Doty and wanted to make sure his contributions would be remembered. I’ll miss Dorothy and will also remember how much she gave to us."

Cristine Russell (Senior Fellow, Environment and Natural Resources Program) 

"I met Dorothy soon after coming to the Belfer Center. She was memorable from the start. I admired her, of course, as a strong, pioneering woman in science, technology and public policy, a Belfer Center founder, and a role model for many. I soon came to know personally how brilliant, thoughtful and articulate she could be on a broad range of topics--from policy to politics. I wanted to look back at some of her work, including a 1983 book she edited, "Uncertain Power: The Struggle for a National Energy Policy," and a 1995 UN paper, "The Missing Link? Nuclear Proliferation and the International Mobility of Russian Nuclear Experts." She was interested in everything and a frequent attendee at all things Belfer, Shorenstein & HKS. I will miss the great Dorothy and those twinkly eyes behind her trademark large dark-rimmed glasses."

Susan Lynch (Program Assistant, International Security Program) 

"I always have been glad that I had met Dorothy—for more than one or two reasons. She had led a very interesting life, had a great and multi-faceted career, had been trying to help people always, and was a fount of knowledge about Harvard and Center history. Speaking with her always brightened my day—I miss that."

Diana Eck (Lowell House, Harvard University)

"In addition to all her involvements at the Kennedy School and the Belfer Center, Dorothy Zinberg was an active participant in the life of Lowell House. She was one of the first academic women to become part of the Senior Common Room. It was here she got to know Peter Gomes and he got to know her. He always referred to the SCR as “Harvard on the Half-Shell” because it afforded the opportunity to become colleagues with faculty throughout the University and, of course, to meet students. Dorothy often said that Lowell House had played a central part in her life at the University because it gave her a social and intellectual context for a wide circle of friendships. In recent years, Dorothy was a regular at SCR meetings, discussions, and lunches and invariably had her own keen perspective on the issues confronting the College and the University. Students loved being seated with her at High Tables and more than a few times reported that their conversations had led to contacts in London or jobs in Washington.  

Dorothy Austin and I first knew her when she and Norman lived on Scott Street, long before we became Faculty Deans of Lowell House. We lived at that time with Erik and Joan Erikson and Dorothy Z. often quipped that she had been “head teaching man” for Erik when he taught his Gen Ed course on the Life-Cycle. She certainly noticed some of the gaps in his analysis of gender! When she moved to Acacia Street, we loved being invited to the wonderful evenings she would have with an eclectic and fascinating mix of people, always including students. Most memorable were evenings of song, Tom Lehrer at the piano and Dorothy’s decade-by-decade song book from the 20’s on through the 60’s. Among the most enthusiastic singers was Justice Steven Breyer, who seemed to know all the lyrics.  Dorothy and I most recently saw her in mid-January when we toasted the New Year with her at her home in Cambridge. We brought the champagne."

Sigrid Rausing (Editor of Granta) and Eric Abraham

"We will miss her humour and her memory; her ability to tell stories and bring people together; her sense of compassion and her driving ambition to make the world a better place. Unsentimental and clear-eyed, she knew who she was, what she could do, and what she couldn’t do. We will miss her for her clarity, and for all the good conversations."

Mariel Pettee (Harvard Alumnus '14; Signet member)

"As a young woman interested in science as well as dance and the performing arts, I found a unique mentor in Dorothy. Every conversation I had with her was memorable and fun thanks to her demeanor. I could immediately tell that she was the type of person who really listened to other people out of a deep fascination and respect for them. That sense of care and focus made me feel so seen and special. We had long conversations about modern dance, and she introduced me to the choreography of Bill T. Jones for the first time. This ended up being hugely impactful as I recently spent a semester working with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane company learning a portion of his D-Man in the Waters piece. It was one of the most fulfilling artistic experiences I've ever had, and I thank Dorothy for helping lead me to it. 

I also have a specific memory of Dorothy recounting her experience touring the particle detectors at CERN, where I'm currently a researcher. She called the detectors "modern cathedrals", which I found quite moving. I loved how she could see what I saw in my physics work from the perspective of both an artist and a scientist. 

Lastly, I couldn't help but fall in love with her sense of style. Her gorgeous, bold glasses and accessories were so striking and playful. I once had the pleasure of having tea with her and Tom Lehrer at her house, which was similarly beautiful and cozy, and I loved hearing them swap hilarious stories. She is absolutely the kind of woman I aspire to be like one day -- accomplished, stylish, brilliant, and magnetic, but more than anything, generous, humble, and kind."

Dr. Monica Seeley (Longtime friend; Mesmo Consultancy, UK)

"It was with great sadness that I found out about the death of the great and wonderful Dorothy Zinberg.  I’d known her for nearly 50 years.  She studied me as part of a longitudinal study of University College London Chemistry Undergraduates in ca 1969. See https://www.jstor.org/stable/370215?seq=1

How and why we stayed in touch all these years is a mystery as I am not eminent like so many of her contacts, although your Belfer website dedicated to Dorothy holds some of the answers.  We met nearly every time she was in the UK, sometimes just for coffee and other times for longer, and kept in touch by email.  She was a source of encouragement and endless intellectual stimulation. So I feel very honoured to have been included in her network.

Perhaps the most amazing meeting was in Budapest in the 80s.  Walking along the Danube and a voice called out my name.  It was Dorothy, she was there on behalf of Kissinger!  We met for breakfast the next day.  There are so many other tales of time spent with Dorothy which could be told if you need them.

For the past few weeks my long time friend from UCL days, Penny Bristow, and I have been saying – ‘we have not heard from Dorothy, hope she is OK’.  Sadly now we know why.  Penny helped Dorothy organise a 50th anniversary re-union for our year and is in contact with the rest of the group.

Please pass on my condolences to her family.  If you ever organise a UK memorial service please do let us know. 

It has been an honour and a delight to know and have had this wonderful lady in my life."

Penny Bristow (Head Teacher, retired)

"It is with great sadness that we learned of the death of Dorothy Zinberg. I write on behalf of the 1968 Chemistry undergraduate group at UCL.

We first met Dorothy in 1969 when she came to the Chemistry Department at UCL at the behest of Professor Sir Ronald Nyholm FRS, the Head of Department, to study the attitudes of Chemistry undergraduates ( www.jstor.org/stable/370215?seq=1). The study became a longitudinal one, and she followed us on into later years, assessing the impact of a Chemistry degree on our future careers and lives.

I became closer to her in 2014 when I organised reunions for our group. I was still in touch with some of my fellow graduates and undertook to trace as many of our cohort as I could, as well as my former tutor from 1968, Professor Alwyn Davies FRS. This gave her the opportunity to conclude her longitudinal survey, which was not easy as we had all gone in many directions – some staying in chemistry and industry, some into education (school and university), some into research in various disciplines, some into medicine and many going on to unrelated businesses. Dorothy always said that finally ‘a good life, well lived’ could be her only conclusion!

Our last reunion all together with Dorothy was held at UCL in October 2018 and was to celebrate 50 years since the start of our course. She was always a wonderful host, always interested in everyone, and many of us met with her, as well, over lunch or dinner when she came to the UK, staying latterly at the Sloane Club, which she described, with her wry sense of humour, as ‘the ultimate in assisted living'.

She was a great lady, an inspiration to many of us, and wonderful company. We shall miss her. Please pass our condolences on to her family. If there is a Memorial service in the UK, please do let me know."

Listen to an interview with Dorothy Zinberg from May 2019 about her life in Cambridge, at Harvard, and at the Belfer Center.