by Kathryn Edin
Sara McLanahan, the William S. Tod Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs, passed away on December 31 at 3:15 p.m.
Sara Frances Smith was born in Tyler, Texas, on December 27, 1940, where she lived with her parents and sister until moving to Millbrook, New York, to attend Bennett College in 1959. Graduating with highest honors, she moved to Northampton, Massachusetts, to attend Smith College in 1961, but dropped out to marry Ellery McLanahan in 1962. By the early 1970s, Sara, her husband, and the couple’s three children had settled in Houston, where, in 1972, the couple divorced. Shortly thereafter, Sara completed her undergraduate degree ...