Wellesley Mourns Emerita Professor of Art History

An announcement from President H. Kim Bottomly today shared some sad news.

She wrote:

I am saddened to let you know that Professor Emerita Miranda Marvin died earlier this week in her home. Miranda was a longtime member of the Wellesley faculty, having taught here since 1969 in the art and classics departments. She retired in 2010.

Miranda was much beloved by generations of Wellesley women, and was known for attracting students to art history and the study of the classical world through her mesmerizing and memorable lectures. She gave selflessly of her time on behalf of the College—speaking to alumnae at club events around the country and always drawing a crowd during her lectures at Reunion Weekend. In 2000, the Alumnae Association recognized Miranda with its Faculty Service Award.

Miranda Marvin was also a notable scholar. Her 2008 book, The Language of the Muses: The Dialogue Between Roman and Greek Sculpture, was hailed as an important landmark in her field. An alumna of Bryn Mawr and Harvard, she served twice—in 1985 and 2007—as the Robert Sterling Clark Visiting Professor of Art History at the Williams College Graduate Program in the History of Art, and was a Resident in Classical Studies and later a Trustee of the American Academy in Rome.

We will miss this esteemed and generous colleague, and I hope you will join me in keeping her family and close friends in your thoughts.