From the archives: Retiring faculty member Dr. Avis Brenner receives an honorary citation from Dr. George Miller, vice president and dean for academic affairs, at Commencement 1982.
Colleagues and others are remembering Professor Emerita Avis Brenner, a longtime champion for children, who died March 18 at the age of 94.
Prior to her retirement, Brenner was a professor of education at Lesley and, in 1975, established the Child and Community major. Brenner had no children of her own, but was committed to helping them; she authored a book, published in 1984, “Helping Children Cope with Stress.”
“Dr. Brenner was a leader at Lesley at exploring innovative approaches to teaching,” says Professor Emerita Mary Mindess, who served on the search committee that effectively selected Brenner for the faculty. “If I ever made a recommendation, that was a good one. She was very well suited for the position.”
Mindess remembers Brenner setting developmental psychologist Erik Erikson’s eight stages of human development to music, which she says “really made it come alive” for students.
Professor Emerita Carol Streit remembers Brenner as a mentor and friend.
“It was Avis who started me on the almost 50-year path I’ve been on, capping now in my retirement as professor emerita,” Streit says. “I met Avis when I arrived at Lesley in 1981 as a newly minted PhD in psychology, hired to teach computer science – strange, I know.”
Streit explains that Brenner’s counsel and example were invaluable.
“My office was next to Avis’s. I had no idea how to be a college professor and I knew little about how teaching computer science was going to lead me to the path I thought would be my future at Lesley,” Streit says. “I would go in each day, somewhat lost at sea. I quickly noticed that there was a steady stream of students constantly arriving at Avis’s door and I often overheard them talking to Avis about work they seemed to be doing in the community with kids, in settings outside of traditional classrooms. That’s when I first became aware of who Avis was — somewhat of a maverick at the time.”
Expanding the possibilities of a Lesley education
In the early 1980s, Lesley’s undergraduate students were mostly women pursuing careers in education and, primarily, in early-childhood and elementary-school classrooms. But that limited the professional arc of some students.
“If a student decided along the way that she didn’t want to be a teacher, she had to leave Lesley as there was no other option,” Streit says. “Avis saw this as a problem and, by herself, created a path for those who wanted to remain at Lesley and work with children, but not in a traditional classroom setting.
“She forged ahead with very little fanfare, beginning with a dozen or so students and quickly building a program that not only allowed the students to remain at Lesley, but also led to jobs and careers.”
Mindess agrees, saying, “When she came, she really broadened the whole view” of what a Lesley education could provide.
Streit adds that students weren’t the only beneficiaries or Brenner’s vision.
“Lesley’s connection to the neighboring community was expanded, with almost endless possibilities to work with children in other than classroom settings — shelters, afterschool programs, community centers, hospitals, juvenile facilities, etc.
“Avis was amazingly bold, visionary and tenacious about providing a new path for students, one that took advantage of Lesley’s mission, but opened up what later became its soul: working in a variety of settings to meet community needs.”
Brenner’s Children and Community program merged the fields of child development with social work, according to Streit.
“Eventually, Avis asked me if I wanted to teach the introductory class in the program, designed for students who literally were transferring from our own education program, but now looking for careers that would lead them to working with children in other settings.”
Two years later, Brenner decided to retire and she asked Streit to take over.
“I agreed, again feeling somewhat lost at sea, but knowing that Avis had built the foundation for something very important,” Streit says, adding, “I firmly believe that Avis was the architect for what Lesley is today. She pushed the boundaries and carved out a new path, one that even she was likely surprised served as the foundation for the multitude of programs that followed over the decades.”
“She was truly a role model and a friend who enriched my life,” says Professor Emerita Margery Miller, who recalls Brenner’s passion for her work, but remembers her mainly as a friend outside of work. For years, the women and others directly or indirectly tied to Lesley would socialize.
“Although I knew her at Lesley, I best knew her and her husband outside of Lesley and continued our relationship for more than four decades,” Miller says. Brenner was predeceased in 2009 by her husband, Mannie.
Miller and Mindess both remember Brenner’s yen for gardening, as well as her talents as a visual artist, which she focused on after her retirement from Lesley in the early 1980s.
“I continued to visit with her when she moved to Orchard Cove (senior home) and enjoyed walks around her residence, visits to the garden she kept for many years, discussion of our latest reading finds, some professional and Lesley talk … and most importantly, chats about our individual artistic ventures—hers with pastels and mine with photography,” Miller recalls.
“She always talked about the beautiful tomatoes that she grew. She took that very seriously,” Mindess says. “Avis had very high standards for herself and was a very good mentor to me and other faculty. She was a very good friend in many different ways.”
And, at Lesley, Brenner’s work led to a sort of “pre-social work” concentration, Mindess says, calling her program and methods “very effective” and important to the eventual growth of the university.
Streit agrees.
“She was ahead of her time. She was bold,” Streit says. “And, from my perspective in the office next door, she did this with very little fanfare.”
