Patricia Anderson

Patricia Anderson graduated from Montana State College (now MSU) in 1950 in home economics. After a year in Alabama on a Danforth fellowship and to Africa with her husband who was on a Fulbright scholarship, she found her calling: working with students at MSC. Her first job at MSC was coordinating religious activities including Religious Emphasis Week. Later she joined Student Affairs and Services working as assistant dean of women under Marge Paisley. Anderson was a stalwart adviser to student groups and events such as Panhellenic Council and MSU sororities, Spurs, Alpha Lambda Delta, Day of Student Recognition and many others. These groups and individual students greatly benefited from her guidance and help. Anderson retired from MSU in 1988 as assistant dean of students emeritus after over 40 years of being part of the fabric of MSU. After years of living with bias against women in the workplace, she filed a suit against the university and won a judgment against MSU in 1990 for a pattern of discrimination in pay practices. Her pioneering efforts helped improve the working environment for women at MSU over the last three decades.

Patricia Anderson was a stalwart adviser to student groups and events such as Panhellenic Council and MSU sororities, Spurs, Alpha Lambda Delta, Day of Student Recognition and many others.

MSU Historical Photo Collection: parc-001513