Rachel Kahn-Hut

Rachel Kahn-Hut

1938- April 3, 2020

Dr. Rachel Kahn-Hut, Professor Emerita of Sociology at San Francisco State University, passed away peacefully on Friday April 3, 2020. The cause was cancer.
Rachel was a strong and dedicated advocate for students and colleagues alike. She championed gender equality and social justice, edited an influential book about women and work, and was a founding member of Sociologists for Women in Society. After earning a PhD from Brandeis University, Rachel joined the Sociology Department at San Francisco State. She became deeply involved in the life of the university, including serving two terms as Chair of the Sociology Department and helping to create the Women's Studies Program. Rachel's SFSU legacy continues through the Generation-to-Generation fund she generously endowed, using monies received from a holocaust victims bank settlement, to help students pay for the costs of applying to graduate school.

Rachel also was a dedicated political activist, supporting numerous progressive political initiatives and becoming an integral member of the Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club. After she retired in 2000, she greatly increased her community commitments including participating in the Kaiser Senior Advisory Council, volunteering at Ashby Village, and becoming one of the founders of the Free Agents of Berkeley—a network of retired women.

Rachel loved to travel, and propelled by her great curiosity about the world, visited almost every continent on the planet. She was a voracious reader and active in two book groups, regularly attended both theater and ballet, and was an avid museum-goer. Up to the last week of her life she continued to read the daily newspaper and watch the PBS News Hour, continuing her ardent interest in world events.

Rachel Kahn-Hut touched the lives of many people, and she will be long remembered for her intellect, her humor, and the support she unfailingly provided to family and friends, students and colleagues, and her many cousins. She will be greatly missed.