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CAROL WEISS Obituary

WEISS, Carol (Hirschon) Died on Tuesday, January 8, 2013 at the age of 86 of complications of heart disease and cancer. She was the Beatrice Whiting Professor Emerita at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education, where she had worked since 1978. She was born and raised in New York, graduated from Cornell University, and earned an M.A. and Ph.D. at Columbia University. Her professional career was devoted to the study of evaluation research, where she was one of the founders of the scientific approach to evaluation of social programs. At the Bureau of Applied Social Research at Columbia University, and later at Harvard, she also conducted groundbreaking studies of the use of social research in making public policy decisions. With many colleagues and students, she created a field of study of research utilization. For her professional accomplishments, she won many honors and awards, including fellowships at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, the Brookings Institution, and the Myrdal Award from the Evaluation Research Society. Through her many books, articles, and training, she helped to create a professional cadre of evaluators who knew how to use scientific methods. She traveled and consulted widely, and was influential in encouraging the use of evaluation by dozens of U.S. government agencies, international agencies, and governments in Africa, Asia, Australia, and Europe, in fields as diverse as international development, public health, crime and delinquency, agriculture, mental health, and education. After her retirement in 2006, she became a docent at the Boston Museum of Science. Carol is survived by her husband of 64 years, Malcolm A. Weiss, by her children Daniel, Judith, and Janet, her son-in-law Donald Kinder, and by four grandchildren, Benjamin, Samuel, Jacob, and Delilah. She also leaves scores of devoted friends, former students, and colleagues. A memorial celebration of her life will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, please contribute to the Boston Museum of Science, WBUR, or a charity of your choice. Levine Chapels, Brookline 617-277-8300 www.levinechapel.com

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Published by Boston Globe from Jan. 9 to Jan. 10, 2013.

Memories and Condolences
for CAROL WEISS

29 Entries

Emilie Steele

March 5, 2013

Carol was such a wonderful teacher - a master teacher, really, and those of us who had the privilege of being her students have been truly blessed! She always modeled the best of being an educator making certain that we understood what we were learning and why and most important, how it connected to the real world. She was one of the readers on my thesis committee and I will never forget her encouragement, her insistence on excellence. She lives on in each of her students.

Joan LaFrance

February 4, 2013

I had the great honor to have Carol as an academic advisor while working on my disseration. Her warmth, patience and keen advice will always be one of my good memories of that time. My condolences to her family.

Jane Hofmeyr

January 21, 2013

I first met Carol in 1986 and she so inspired and impressed me that I organised for her to come out to South Africa twice to help us strengthen our embryonic program evaluation endeavours. Later I came to know her well as the external examiner of my PhD in 1990 and as a friend. I will miss Carol greatly as one of those rare, remarkable people in one's life, for whom I had such respect and fondness as a warm, caring person with a lovely sense of humour and incisive mind.

Carol made a signal contribution to the development of program evaluation in South Africa, helping to train evaluators in a more rigorous approach to their task. As a luminary in the spheres of evaluation and research utilisation, her passing is a great loss for the evaluation fraternity.

Anane Olatunji

January 16, 2013

Her work will remain an inspiration to those seeking to make a difference through evaluation research.

Elisabeth Drake

January 16, 2013

Dear Mal, Edna Newmark told me of Carol's passing. She was such a remarkable person and I know that she was your anchor - as you were hers. You will continue to be in my thoughts and I send my deepest sympathy. Would love to hear from you whenever you wish to geve a call. Lis

Barry Tarmy

January 15, 2013

Mal
Fred Kant informed Marianne and me of Carol's passing and we wish to pass on to you our condolences.
I fondly remember your thoughtfulness kindness to us throughout the years. Each and every time Girls Scouts show up at our door with their Cookies, I can't help but remember Carol's role in progressing this program.
Barry

Rodney Hopson

January 14, 2013

A pillar in the field of evaluation, she birthed ideas, arguments, and frameworks that span several generations. You would be hard pressed not to find a substantial Weiss citation in evaluation of programs and policies across multiple social science fields and disciplines (and if you didn't, you wouldn't be looking deep enough).

Blessings to the family and devoted friends she leaves and inspiration to the countless students in the field who continue to use her work.

Beverly Parsons

January 14, 2013

We have lost a great presence in our world. Carol Weiss's work has been an inspiration and guiding light in evaluation and research. May we spread that inspiration and light as we seek to contribute to a more just and healthy world. Peace to her family and friends.

David Robinson

January 14, 2013

No one influenced me more than Professor Weiss. She was a careful but generous teacher, and an extraordinary mentor. Her books and lectures have always guided me when addressing a new problem in evaluation. She will be missed.

Janet Clinton

January 13, 2013

What a loss for the evaluation work, her work has inspired many students. My condolences to her family.

Jane Davidson

January 13, 2013

This is a huge loss for evaluation. Her brilliant ideas live on.

January 13, 2013

My sincere condolences to Carol's family. She is one of my "heroes" in evaluation. She inspired my work as a student and continued to influence my work as a practicing evaluator and as a teacher of evaluation. Our field of evaluation has been deeply and richly impacted by her work and she will be greatly missed.

January 13, 2013

Mal:
So sorry to hear of your loss.
Warmly,
Len Berkowitz

January 12, 2013

We wish to offer our condolences and express our sympathy to Mal Weiss and family.
Ron and Joan Hoke

Eleanor Chelimsky

January 12, 2013

What a grievous loss for evaluation. We will miss her calm spirit of inquiry, her knowledge, her capacity to see other points of view. Oh, we'll just miss HER. Period.

January 12, 2013

We were very saddened to learn of Carol's death. She was a great lady !Our love and sympathy to you, Mal, and the family.

Clarisse and Fred Kant
Cranford, NJ

Bob Boruch

January 11, 2013

Comrade Carol was possessed of a delicously skeptical and excellent mind, a benign, michievous and often mordant sense of humor, and was unnervingly (annoyingly) productive and interesting as a scholar. She had integrity. Heck of a role model for many, and a really decent person. I admired Carol. I'll miss her.

Jerry Murphy

January 11, 2013

My condolences to Mal and the entire Weiss family. Carol was an extraordinary woman who combined a mind of steel with a heart of gold. She was beloved by all for her keen insights, flawless writing, fresh ideas, gentle humor, and deep caring for her students and colleagues. We were so proud to have had her as a colleague at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. My wife, Susan, and I cherish our time together with Carol and Mal, and we will miss that twinkle in her eye.

Julius Sherman

January 10, 2013

Carol was the smartest girl in our elementary school class graduating in January 1940

mark Ellenbogen

January 10, 2013

My condolences to the whole Weiss family. What a fabulous woman-what a life! Brilliance and intellect bundled with a sense of humor and so much more. We are all lucky to have known her and had the opportunity to share her with you all. The whole Ellenbogen clan's thoughts, memories and collective heart's go out to you.

Carolyn Petrosino

January 10, 2013

January 10, 2013

I never had the honor of meeting Carol Weiss in person, but I was familiar with her work and her wonderful contributions to the art and science of evaluation research. I was guided by her book, Evaluation Research many years ago in my academic training. Twenty years later, I still refer to it from time to time. Her carbon footprint is and will continue to be remarkable.

Ruby Heiman

January 10, 2013

Dear Malcolm,
I was so sorry to read of Carol's passing. My mom, your cousin Hilda Ellenbogen Sulkes, was so fond of you and Carol. The two of you always made the trip down to NY for family simchas, and it gave my mom such pleasure to see you. Coincidentally, just last weekend I was looking through old family pictures, and showing them to my daughter, and I pointed out you and your parents at Grandma Ellenbogen's 70th birthday party.

My heartfelt condolence to you and your family.

Warmly,
Ruby Heiman

katherine Merseth

January 10, 2013

a wonderful colleague and friend. Always interested in new ideas and thoughtful approaches. A joy to work with and always fun to have lunch with. I will miss her greatly

Anthony Petrosino

January 10, 2013

In the 1990s, Carol was the director of a post-doctoral fellowship program I was part of, and later was the head of a project I worked on. She was such a terrific scholar and writer, and I learned so much from her. She was an inspiration to me in so many ways. Her stories of her various projects over the years was always so entertaining. How I wish I could turn back the clock to those early days in the fellowship when four of us in the first year cohort had Carol all to ourselves! I will cherish our friendship and miss her greatly.

Suzanne Grant Lewis

January 10, 2013

Carol was a wonderful scholar and a mentor to many at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and beyond. She was respected for her high standards and intellectual curiosity, consistently questioning our assumptions. Condolences to Malcolm and her children, of whom she was very proud.

Bob O'Reilly

January 10, 2013

My wife Fran O'Reilly wasa student and friend of Carol's and through Fran I was able to get to know this wonderful and kind woman. She will be missed. My thoughts are with MAl and the family.

January 10, 2013

My condolences to Dr. Weiss's family. She was an inspiration to both me and my students--always a practical voice in a field that can be quite theoretical. Her contribution will not be forgotten.
Gail V. Barrington, Alberta, Canada

Paul Ellenbogen

January 10, 2013

I was of so very fond of Carol. She was an an amazing lady. I will miss her ever present warmth very much.

Gary Orfield

January 9, 2013

Carol Weiss was a very good colleague--wise, caring deeply about how the country got information about its serious social and educational problems, a good sense of humor, unpretentious, and a conversation with her was always a pleasure.

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