Peggy Downes Baskin, educator and scholar, advocate for women’s rights, and longtime philanthropic supporter of UC Santa Cruz, died at her home surrounded by her family on Dec. 11. She was 93.
Baskin was renowned for her courage and generosity of spirit. She supported and advanced UC Santa Cruz in numerous ways. She shared her expertise with students as a senior lecturer in feminist studies and supported efforts to promote a diverse and inclusive expansion of opportunities in STEM fields and increase educational equity in the Monterey Bay region.
“Peggy Downes Baskin’s deep support for and involvement with UC Santa Cruz has been transformative for our community,” Chancellor Cynthia Larive said. “She understood and appreciated what makes our campus so special, and built on that foundation. I am deeply grateful for her contributions.”
Baskin and her late husband, Jack, established the Peggy and Jack Baskin Foundation in 2008 to provide financial support for gender equality and increased access to education for marginalized communities in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties. UC Santa Cruz and the Peggy and Jack Baskin Foundation have worked together to advance innovative and impactful scholarship for many years.
The foundation funded the Baskin Feminist Scholars Program and the Baskin Scholars Program in Engineering to support the transfer of community college students to UC Santa Cruz; supported the Center for Racial Justice; underwrote fellowships to female doctoral students in engineering; and funded the summer Girls in Engineering program.
Alexander Wolf, dean of the Baskin School of Engineering, noted that it was Peggy’s vision to guide more girls to enter engineering that inspired the Girls in Engineering program at UC Santa Cruz.
“More than 600 middle school students, mostly low-income and first-generation, have been served by the program over the years, and many have gone on to become engineers,” Wolf said. “We will continue Peggy’s legacy of lifting up girls by opening the door to engineering to middle school girls each summer here at UC Santa Cruz.”
In 2016, the foundation established the Peggy and Jack Baskin Foundation Presidential Chair for Feminist Studies, which funds research and teaching, as well as provides support for graduate fellowships. Distinguished Professor Bettina Aptheker, Baskin’s close friend for over four decades, was the first chairholder.
“Peggy was not only a generous philanthropist who contributed significantly to Feminist Studies,” Aptheker said, “she was also a very gifted teacher who believed passionately in mentoring and encouraging young women to take on leadership roles in communities, especially politics.”
A gift from Jack Baskin to honor Baskin and her interests established the Peggy Downes Baskin Humanities Endowment for Interdisciplinary Studies in Ethics, informally known as the Peggy Downes Baskin Ethics Lecture. Luminaries such as Margaret Atwood, Toni Morrison, Ezra Klein, and Aptheker are among the series' past speakers.
“Thanks to Peggy’s brilliance and determination throughout her life, our campus community will continue to deepen our commitment to feminism and ethics,” said Jasmine Alinder, dean of the Humanities division. “Her legacy at UC Santa Cruz will impact our students and faculty for generations to come.”
Baskin was born in Seattle in 1930. She attended Vassar College where she graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa in 1952.
Later in life, Baskin expanded her higher education and attended the Claremont Graduate School of Public Policy, where she received a Ph.D. in the early 1980s. She went on to work as a postdoctoral research associate at UC Berkeley, and for 18 years was a professor of political science at Santa Clara University, specializing in the study of the United States presidency, elections, and presidential management styles.
She spent five years at UC Santa Cruz as a senior lecturer on women and politics and women in power.
Baskin authored numerous journal articles on women and politics and is also credited with authoring the following: The New Older Woman (1995, co-author); Beyond Superwoman (2004, co-author); The Quiet Eye – Listening to Images (2006, author); and The Wandering Spirit – Through the Lens of Time (2010, author).
In addition to the Peggy and Jack Baskin Foundation, Baskin co-founded several other philanthropic organizations, including Women’s Educational Success at Cabrillo College (2003), Women’s Leadership Forum at Cal State Monterey Bay (2003), Women Helping Women at Monterey Peninsula College (2003), and The Women’s Fund of the Community Foundation of Monterey County.
The Humanities Division will honor Baskin’s legacy on Feb. 22 at the 2024 Baskin Ethics Lecture.
