Osen, Lynn M.

Author and lecturer Lynn Moses Osen was an energetic spokesperson for women's rights throughout Southern California in the latter half of the 20th century.

She actively participated in many professional and community organizations including the Orange County League of Women Voters and the Orange County Commission on the Status of Women. As an instructor at the University of California, Irvine (UCI), Osen was instrumental in the development of the Women's Opportunities Center and the Women's Studies Program and taught courses in mathematics, statistics, psychology, and women's issues. During World War II young Lynn Moses received the U.S. Navy Department's Civilian Service Award for her original work in systems analysis. She continued working for the Navy after she married Don Osen in 1950 at the age of 30. In the 1960s and 1970s, Osen earned bachelor's and master's degrees in psychology. Osen was known for her tireless efforts to promote women's equal education and employment. She was a driving force behind the establishment of the Orange County League of Women Voters in 1957 and was later the founding chairperson of the Orange County Commission on the Status of Women. She also served as head of the speakers' bureau for the National Organization for Women (NOW) in Orange County. In addition to her work in female psychology, Osen was an accomplished statistician and mathematician and a member of the American Association of Women in Mathematics. Combining her interests in women's studies and mathematics, Osen wrote a well-received paper entitled "The Feminine Mathtique" (1971) and a widely translated book, Women in Mathematics (1974). She described the "feminine mathtique" as a myth that "encourages the notion that to enjoy mathematics in its many forms is to be, in some obscure way, at variance with one's womanhood" (Osen, 1974, p. 11); during her lifetime Osen devoted much of her time and energy to dispelling that myth among her contemporaries. To this end she designed and taught courses at UCI and presented workshops and lectures for various colleges, high schools, businesses, churches, and women's organizations throughout Southern California. Osen's interests and activities expanded beyond women's issues to include memberships in organizations such as the Newport Harbor Art Museum, Orange County Museum of Art, California State Central Committee, Author's Guild (Author's League of America), Mental Health Advisory Board of Orange County, and the Western Psychological Association. Osen also contributed articles to Architectural Digest, Psychonomic Science, Rangefinder Magazine, Los Angeles Times Magazine, Mathematics Newsletter, and Reader's Digest. In later years, Osen spent time traveling and writing; she contributed articles to magazines such as Asia, China Tourism Press, and Hong Kong Tatler. Osen continued to live in Laguna Beach, California and participate in women's organizations and the local Orange County community until her death in 2003.

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