Myra Strober: Ninety Men and Me

Stanford Emeriti/ae Council Autobiographical Reflections

On February 28, 2024, Myra Strober, Professor of Education, Emerita, and Professor Emerita of Economics (by Courtesy) at the Graduate School of Business, treated an audience of emeriti/ae community members to a wonderful lecture, entitled “Ninety Men and Me: Some Autobiographical Reflections.” Speaking candidly and from the heart, she traced the arc of her life as a student, wife, and mother of young children, making her way in academia beginning in the 1960s at a time when women were rare as graduate students and even more rare as professors. Discovering along the way that she was a “feminist,” she created, through her research, the new field of gender (or feminist) economics and helped to found what is now Stanford’s Clayman Institute for Gender Research (initially the Center for Research on Women). Strober spoke about leading the joint MBA-MA in Education degree program, teaching a popular course entitled Work and Family for many years, and recently co-authoring a book, Money and Love: An Intelligent Roadmap for Life’s Biggest Decisions. With humorous anecdotes and an unfailingly positive attitude, Strober described the difficult challenges she had faced and the valued support she has received in her professional and personal life.