Carolyn Stieber

East Lansing

Died on September 12 due to congestive heart failure. She was 92. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on July 6,1923, to Felix and Alice Friedman, both immigrants from Hungary, Carolyn graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Chicago in just three years. During World War II, she served as a position classification analyst for the U.S.Navy and also worked for the Veterans Emergency Housing Program. She met her future husband, Jack, in Washington DC; they married in 1947. She did graduate work at the University of Minnesota and the University of Pittsburgh, earning a master's degree in political science. Soon after moving to East Lansing in 1956, when Jack was hired by Michigan State University's new Labor and Industrial Relations Center, she joined MSU's Political Science Department; she was its first (and only) woman faculty member for a decade. Her students included a future governor and a future U.S. senator. In 1974, she was appointed the university's second ombudsman; she served for 17 years in that capacity under four MSU presidents and was a mentor to many others in that field. She helped to found the University and College Ombudsman Association and served as its third president; she was active in international ombudsman organizations as well. She authored a book on Michigan politics as well as numerous refereed articles. The State News designated her the 1986-87 Spartan of the Year. Carolyn and Jack traveled worldwide and enjoyed sabbaticals in Scotland, Switzerland, Belgium, England, and Australia. A talented cook, Carolyn was known for her dinner parties. She was a regular patron of the Wharton Center and a passionate reader who was always "trying to catch up on The New York Times."

Carolyn was predeceased by Jack in 2011. She is survived by her daughters, Allison, of Somerville, Massachusetts, and Joan, of Washington, DC. She is a donor to MSU's Willed Body Program. A celebration in honor of her life will be held at a future date.