May, Elizabeth Stoffregen, 1907-

Economist and educator May was born in St. Louis, Mo., the daughter of Caroline Stumpf and Carl H. Stoffregen. As a student she had a keen interest in international affairs, and after graduating from Smith College (1928) studied at the London School of Economics, earning a Ph.D. in 1931. Her teaching career began at Goucher College in Baltimore, Md.; in addition she gave lectures for the Business and Professional Women's Club, leading discussions on how New Deal legislation affected the lay person. In 1939 she joined the federal government, working as a general assistant for economic analysis in the Treasury Department and as a fiscal analyst in the Bureau of the Budget (1941-1947). She later served as dean (1949-1964) and acting president (1961-1964) at Wheaton College in Norton, Mass., and was the first woman board member of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (1964-1969). An active member of the American Association of University Women and the International Federation of University Womensince the 1930s, she served on their boards for many years.

The career of Elizabeth May, economist and educator, spanned over fifty years. Born Elizabeth Augusta Stoffregen on April 25, 1907 in St. Louis, Missouri, she grew up the eldest of four sisters in Montclair, New Jersey. Her mother was Caroline Stumpf and her father was Carl Henry Stoffregen, the second generation head of Steinwender, Stoffregen & Co., a coffee-roasting and importing company.

Interested in global issues from an early age, Elizabeth first went abroad her senior year of high school, traveling in Europe for six months with family friends. Later, while a student at Smith College (B.A., 1928), she was president of the first League of Nations Model Assembly held in New England and also attended the Students' International Union in Geneva, Switzerland. Elizabeth's research on the economic valorization of the Brazilian coffee trade for her senior thesis at Smith became the basis of graduate work at both Radcliffe College and the London School of Economics (LSE), where she earned her Ph.D. in 1931. While in London, she met Geoffrey May, an American with a law degree from Harvard who was finishing a fellowship at LSE. They were married in September 1931.

Shortly after her marriage, May began her teaching career at Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland, teaching economics. In 1933 she was awarded a Radcliffe Fellowship to research and write her chapters for the collaborative book, International Control on the Non-Ferrous Metals . In 1939 May took a leave of absence from Goucher to work for the federal government as an economic analyst in the Division of Research and Statistics. She formally resigned from Goucher in 1941 to become a fiscal analyst at the U.S. Bureau of the Budget during the Roosevelt and Truman administrations (1941-1947). While at the Bureau of the Budget she worked on postwar issues for the U.S. economy. In 1947, the Truman Doctrine was signed and launched America's counter-offense to the Soviets with a grant of $400 million in aid to stabilize the Turkish and Greek governments. The American Mission for Aid to Greece was established to administer the economic and military assistance to the Greek government, and Geoffrey May was appointed assistant director of the program. In late 1947, Elizabeth May was also hired by the Mission for Aid as an economic specialist, tasked with evaluating the economy and preparing an official report.

Returning to the U.S. in 1949, May served as professor of economics and academic dean at Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts. During her fifteen years at Wheaton, she stepped in twice as acting president. In February 1964 Geoffrey May was taken ill and suddenly died. In June of that same year, Elizabeth May was appointed by Lyndon B. Johnson as the first woman director of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im) promoting their mission to assist in financing the export of U.S. goods and services to international markets. May spent much of her five years at the Ex-Im travelling internationally on assignments, including trips to Ghana, Japan, and Argentina. She served on the board of directors until her resignation was accepted by newly elected President Richard M. Nixon on April 17, 1969.

Throughout her life, Elizabeth May was a leader in the advancement of education for women. She first became involved with the American Association of University Women (AAUW) in 1936 when she was hired as Research Associate for Social Studies at the national headquarters in Washington, D.C. Years later, from 1961 to 1969, she served as First Vice-President and in 1967 she represented the AAUW at the 51st Council meeting of the International Federation of University Women (IFUW) in New Delhi, India. In 1968 she was elected Third Vice-President of the IFUW and later served as First Vice-President (1971-1974) and President (1974-1977). In 1969 she joined forces with Althea Hottel (a former president of both IFUW and AAUW) and five other women to found the Virginia Gildersleeve International Foundation for University Women (later the Virginia Gildersleeve International Fund).

In 1977, May retired to Harvard, Massachusetts, where she dedicated her time to town activities, including serving as a member of the town's Long Range Planning Advisory Committee. Over the years, she was often recognized for her achievements. In 1981, the Schlesinger Library chose her to be one of 40 subjects for its "Women in the Federal Government Oral History Project." In 1999, she was one of 30 women, including Julia Child and Betty Friedan, to be honored by her alma mater, Smith College, as part of the "Remarkable Women: A Smith Continuum" program. In 2000, at the age of 93, she was honored by the town of Harvard as their annual "Citizen of Note."

Elizabeth Stoffregen May died in her home in Harvard, Massachusetts, on March 27, 2011. She was 103.