In Memoriam

Evelyn E. Handler She left UNH stronger than she found it By Lois Shea '95G

The event was a barbecue for newly-arrived freshmen on the president's lawn, and Evelyn Handler was standing next to Gregg Sanborn '66, '77G, who was vice president of student affairs at the time. A student approached the two of them and said, "You must be President and Mrs. Handler." Handler quickly replied, "No, young lady. I am President and Mrs. Handler." "And then she patted her on the back," recalls Sanborn.

Handler, who was president of UNH from 1980-83, was the first woman to hold that position and the first woman to preside over any land-grant university in the nation. Described as warm and outgoing, she made it a point to know everyone at UNH—from maintenance workers to trustees, and, most importantly, students. But she was also determined to raise UNH's stature nationally and internationally. Handler lobbied Senator Warren Rudman until she secured $15 million for the construction of a science and engineering research center, Morse Hall. She also ushered in the Honors Program and helped to develop a dual major in international affairs.

Handler, 78, died on Dec. 23 in Bedford, N.H. She was walking to join her husband, Eugene Handler, for dinner when she was struck by a SUV.

Handler came to the United States from Hungary with her family in 1940. Paul Holloway '91H, a former USNH trustee, remembers her first commencement speech. "She gave a talk about what it meant to be an American," Holloway says. "Don't forget [her family] fled Europe during the Holocaust. She talked about the opportunities that America offered, and that it was the last bastion of safety for so many people during those years. You could have heard a pin drop."

A biologist and leukemia researcher, Handler came to UNH from Hunter College, where she had been a student, earning a bachelor's degree in chemistry and psychology and then becoming a professor and a dean. She received a doctorate in biology from New York University. When she left UNH, she became the first female president of Brandeis University.

Handler was, by all accounts, forceful, determined and effective. "She busted through glass ceilings before the term was coined," says her son Jeffrey Varsa. "Because she was so avant-garde in a predominantly male environment, she had to be tough."

Karen Johnson '84, student body president in 1982-83, remembers traveling with Handler to Bartlett, N.H., for the funeral of a student who had drowned during a crew practice on Great Bay. As they were leaving, Handler "looked over, and there was a crowd of students sobbing and hugging each other. She waded through the snow in her high heels, and didn't leave until she had talked to every single student in that group," Johnson says.

At age 73, she earned a law degree from Franklin Pierce Law Center, now UNH School of Law. "I don't think she ever stopped trying new things and continuing to educate herself," Johnson says. "When she came to UNH she had just learned how to drive; when she retired, she learned to ride a horse. At some point, you can just settle. And she never did."

Donations to the newly created Evelyn Handler Memorial Scholarship may be sent to the UNH Foundation, 9 Edgewood Rd., Durham, NH 03824.

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