![]() ![]() In November 1943, after Congress passed new legislation, she was promoted to the rank of Captain.Īccording to Navy Web pages, Captain McAfee guided the growth of the WAVES to a force of more 80,000 Navy women in a variety of occupational specialties, including officers. McAfee was appointed to the rank of Lieutenant-Commander in August 1942, becoming the first woman to be commissioned as an officer in the United States Navy. As some one especially concerned with women’s education, she considered this type of learning invaluable toward social equity.Īs Wellesley’s take on leadership has always stressed service, it is no wonder that McAfee was willing to take a temporary leave of absence from her work at Wellesley in order to accept the appointment to serve as the first director of the Navy’s newly established WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service). McAfee subscribed to the belief that the liberal arts cannot be taken as preparation for a career, but as preparation for life. She considered it valuable in building the power of the individual and in shaping a greater internal and external awareness of the world. ![]() ![]() McAfee also defended the validity of a liberal arts education against accusations of impracticality and indulgence during the great depression. Her presidency emphasized truth as the greatest and most precious object of scholarly pursuit. Her career in higher education included roles as professor, dean, and executive secretary of Vassar’s alumnae organization.Īccording to the Vassar Encyclopedia, Wellesley College ended an 18-month search involving more than 100 candidates, by naming 36-year-old Mildred McAfee, a woman possessing “intellectual honesty, leadership, tolerance, savoir-faire, sympathetic understanding of youth, vision, and a sense of humor,” as the new president of Wellesley College in 1936.Īs president of Wellesley, McAfee had the opportunity and the authority to put to work what she had learned from four different institutions of higher learning. She graduated from Vassar College in 1920 and received an M.A. Mildred Helen McAfee was born in Parkville, Mo., in 1900. ![]()
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