Margurite Ross Barnett was born in Charlottesville, Virginia, on May 22, 1942. She grew up in Buffalo, New York, where she graduated from Bennett High School in 1959. She attended Antioch College, graduating in 1964 with an A.B. in Political Science, and continued her studies at the University of Chicago, where she received both her M.A. and Ph. D. in Political Science in 1966 and 1972, respectively. Barnett was a lecturer at the University of Chicago, and later taught at Princeton, Howard and Columbia Universities. As an administrator, she held positions at the City University of New York and the University of Missouri-Saint Louis before coming to the University of Houston as its President in 1990. Barnett was the first woman, as well as the first African American to serve in that role. Among her many accomplishments at UH, Barnett raised more than $150 million for the university, established the Texas Center for Environmental Studies, and instituted the nationally recognized Bridge Program, which aided and motivated disadvantaged students to make a successful transition from high school to college. In early 1992 Barnett was diagnosed with a neuro-endorcrinological condition. She succumbed to the complications of this disease on February 26, 1992.
From the description of Marguerite Ross Barnett papers, 1990-1992. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 51947568
