Laura Woolsey Lord Scales (November 13, 1879 – June 12, 1990) was an American educator, college dean and supercentenarian who served as the Dean of Students of Smith College from 1922 to 1944.

Biography

Scales was the daughter of John King Lord (1848–1926), a historian who served as acting president of Dartmouth College in 1892 and 1893; her two brothers became a professor of anatomy and a publisher. In 1913, after Scales' death, she became an instructor at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, before resigning in 1920 to become dean of women at the Carnegie Institute of Technology. She then returned to Smith, where she served as dean of students for 22 years (1922–1944). Her papers are archived at Smith College. notable residents have included Gloria Steinem.

Selected publications

References

  • Laura Scales Papers, 1879–1990 , Smith College archives
  • Laura Scales photographed in the house named in her honor, by Alfred Eisenstaedt for Life magazine