Mary Frances Berry

Mary Frances Berry (born February 17, 1938) is the Geraldine R. Segal Professor of American Social Thought and Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania and the former chairwoman of the United States Commission on Civil Rights. She is also the former board chair of Pacifica Radio. She is a past president of the Organization of American Historians, the primary professional organization for historians of the United States.

At Penn, Berry teaches American legal history. Before coming to Penn, Berry was provost of the College of Behavioral and Social Science at University of Maryland, College Park, and chancellor of the University of Colorado at Boulder. She received Ph.D. and J.D. degrees from the University of Michigan.

Read more about Mary Frances Berry:  Early Life and Education, Career, Awards and Honors, Bibliography

Famous quotes containing the words frances berry and/or berry:

    If Rosa Parks had taken a poll before she sat down in that bus in Montgomery, she’d still be standing.
    —Mary Frances Berry (b. 1938)

    Being a parent is a form of leadership. . . . Parents make a mistake, along with leaders of organizations, when they are unwilling to recognize the power inherent in the positions they occupy and when they are unwilling to use this power. . . . I do not mean a figure who is irrational, autocratic, or sadistic. I mean leaders who have the strength of character to stand up for what they believe.
    —Abraham Zaleznik. In Support of Families, ed. Michael W. Yogman and T. Berry Brazelton, ch. 8 (1986)