Reva Appleby Gerstein (born Reva Appleby; 27 March 1917 – 6 January 2020)
Biography
Gerstein was the daughter of Diana (Kraus) and David Appleby. After attending Fern Avenue Public School and Parkdale Collegiate Institute, Gerstein earned a Bachelor of Arts degree (1938), a Master of Arts degree (1939), and a PhD (1945) from the University of Toronto. The couple had two sons, Irving Russell (1941-) and Ira Michael (1947-). In the fall of 1979, she remarried to David Raitblat. She turned 100 in 2017.
Education
Hon.B.A. (1938) University of Toronto
M.A (1939) University of Toronto
Ph.D. (1945) University of Toronto
Thesis: An analysis of infant behavioral development
Supervised by Professor Blatz, Professor Bernhardt and Dr.Northway
Career
From 1942-1945, while completing her PhD at the University of Toronto, Reva Gerstein taught both undergrad and masters classes in psychology at U of T. During this time, she also conducted research on topics unrelated to her thesis, such as a study on the demographics and attitudes of first-year U of T students - First-Year Students: A Study of a Species, Canadian
Gerstein taught courses in psychology at the University of Toronto from 1942 to 1945, and later taught at York University. As a result of the task force's recommendations, a number of community mental health services were established in Toronto, including the Gerstein Crisis Centre. Gerstein served as the founding chair of the board.
In 1991 Reva published a book titled Nurturing Health: A Framework on the Determinants of Health for the Healthy Public Committee which she was the Chair of. This book was the culmination of her work on mental health and education.
Reva Gerstein was also the first female Chancellor of The University of Western Ontario, serving as chancellor from 1992-1996.
In 1997 she was honoured with the Companion of the Order of Canada in recognition for her outstanding work on mental health reform.
Gerstein died in January 2020 at the age of 102.
- In 1975 she was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Guelph.
- In 1988, she was awarded the Order of Ontario.
- She received honorary degrees from University of Western Ontario (1972), Lakehead University (1974), University of Guelph (1975), Queen's University (1981), York University (1993), and the University of Toronto (1996)