Elinor Raas Heller

Elinor Raas Heller (October 3, 1904 – August 15, 1987) was an American academic administrator. From 1961–1976 she was a Regent of the University of California. She served as Chair in 1975–1976, and Vice-Chair in 1968–1969 and 1971–1972. In 1973 she was appointed to serve on California's Postsecondary Education Commission. She received the Clark Kerr Award in 1976.

Elinor Raas Heller
BornOctober 3, 1904
DiedAugust 15, 1987 (age 82)
NationalityAmerican
EducationB.A. Mills College
Spouse(s)Edward Hellman Heller
Children3, including Elizabeth Heller, married to Alan Mandell

Biography

Heller was born in San Francisco, California.[1] Heller graduated from Mills College in 1925.[1] At the time of the Berkeley Free Speech Movement in 1964, another regent, Edwin Pauley, with the covert assistance of the FBI, attempted to remove her from the board. She was one of six regents who voted against the firing of Angela Davis in 1969.[1]

Heller was also a member of the Democratic National Committee (1944–1952) and the World Affairs Council of Northern California. She was an alternate delegate to the 1944 Democratic National Convention, and a delegate in 1948 and 1956. In the 1952 presidential election, she was a candidate for Presidential Elector in California on behalf of Adlai Stevenson. in 1974 Heller was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[2]

She was awarded the UCSF medal in 1978. [3]

Personal life

In 1925, she married financier Edward Hellman Heller, grandson of banker Isaias W. Hellman.[4] The couple resided in Atherton, California and had three children. Edward Heller died in 1961.[5] Her daughter was arts patron Elizabeth Heller Mandell, married to Alan Mandell.[4]

References
  1. Folkart, Burt. "'Balancing Wheel' on Board : Elinor Heller, UC Regents Chairman in 1970s, Dies". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 22, 2014.
  2. "Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter H" (PDF). American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved July 22, 2014.
  3. "UCSF Medal". Office of the Chancellor. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  4. "Elizabeth Heller Mandell, patron of the arts, consultant for nonprofit agencies and member of a well-known California family, died unexpectedly on June 16 in her sleep at her home in Brentwood. She was 65". SFGate. July 16, 1997.
  5. Chall, Malca (1984). "Elinor Raas Heller - A Volunteer Career in Politics, in Higher Education, and on Governing Boards - An Interview Conducted by Malca Chall 1974-1980" (PDF). Regional Oral History Office University of California, Berkeley The Bancroft Library.
  • Who's Who in America 1976: Elinor Raas Heller, p. 1400.
  • "Elinor Raas Heller" (obituary), New York Times, August 19, 1987.



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