Jacquelyn Mattfeld

Jacquelyn Anderson Mattfeld (October 5, 1925 – December 28, 2023) was an American musicologist and academic administrator. She served as president of Barnard College from 1976 to 1980.

Born in Baltimore, she studied at the Peabody Conservatory and Goucher College before completing her PhD at the Yale School of Music in 1959.^[1] Her early research focused on Renaissance music, including Josquin des Prez.^[2] However, she was unable to find an academic appointment, instead teaching piano privately, until she was hired as associate director of financial aid at Radcliffe College.^[3] The remainder of her academic career was administrative; she served as associate dean of student affairs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, provost and dean of faculty at Sarah Lawrence College, and a dean and later associate provost at Brown University, before being appointed president of Barnard in 1976.^[1][4] In 1979 she received the Wilbur Cross Medal from Yale University.^[5]

Mattfeld was hired at Barnard in large part to respond to the college's continuing financial problems, owing to her reputation as a budgetary expert.^[6] She addressed these difficulties by raising tuition, but was nevertheless able to increase the application rate to the college.^[7][8] Despite her effective financial leadership, however, she was fired after four years.^[1] She was subsequently appointed provost and dean of faculty at the College of Charleston.^[9] She later developed an interest in gerontology, which she pursued in part as executive director of the C. G. Jung Center in Evanston, Illinois; following her retirement, the Center appointed her Board Member Emeritus.^[10]

Como administradora académica, Mattfeld se labró una reputación de franqueza directa, incluso combativa, declarando al marcharse de Brown: «No logramos nada. Nos pasamos media hora sentados hablando de si fue un error o no gastar 56.000 dólares en una casa en la calle Humpty-Dumpty». ^{[ 11 ]} En Barnard, se enfrentó a los administradores de la Universidad de Columbia y a su propia junta directiva por su (exitosa) resistencia a la adquisición de la universidad por parte de Columbia. ^{[ 8 ]} Autodenominándose «militante» en respuesta al sexismo y clasismo institucionalizados en las universidades de élite, a lo largo de su carrera abogó por mejores servicios estudiantiles y una mayor inclusión de estudiantes de entornos menos favorecidos. ^{[ 3 ]} También defendió la necesaria superposición entre la formación profesional y las artes liberales . ^{[ 12 ]}

Mattfeld murió en Edgewater, Nueva Jersey , el 28 de diciembre de 2023, a la edad de 98 años. ^{[ 13 ]}