Dear Members of the TC Community, 

It is with enduring respect and gratitude for her service to the College that we convey the sad news that Dr. Hope Jensen Leichter, Elbenwood Professor Emerita of Education and Director of the Elbenwood Center for the Study of the Family as Educator, at Teachers College, Columbia University, passed away on May 25, 2025, age 97. 

Professor Leichter was an active and beloved member of the Teachers College faculty for more than 60 years, from 1962 to 2024. She taught many highly sought after classes throughout her career and as recently as Fall 2023. The Elbenwood Center for the Study of the Family as Educator originated through the vision of Professor Leichter, and she served as its director beginning with its creation in 1979.

Professor Leichter’s scholarship and teaching focused on the many and varied forms of education in which families play critical roles. She taught courses on the Family as Educator, Education in Museums with a focus on New York City’s many museums as important educational institutions, Family Memories, Education in Television and Media, as well as multiple graduate research seminars. Over her career she served as primary sponsor for more than 70 doctoral student thesis projects including as recently as May 2025. She served as a committee member of more than 150 additional doctoral candidates, as well as very large numbers of masters student projects. Her publications include influential books, The Family as Educator (1979), Families and Communities as Educators (1979), Kinship and Casework (1967, co-authored with her life-long colleague, the late Dr. William Mitchell). She also published a large number of scholarly articles and frequently made public presentations. 

With the understanding that family members are lifelong educators and that children’s first form of education often come from parents and grandparents at home, she led the Elbenwood Center in examining family education and its relationship with other educational institutions — such as schools, religious institutions, museums, libraries, the media — through the integration of interdisciplinary fields in the humanities and behavioral and social sciences. Among the Center’s many projects was a recent effort to examine influences of the COVID-19 pandemic on blurred boundaries between work and school and family life for parents and children working and studying from home. 

Professor Leichter received her B.A. from Oberlin College (1950) and Ph.D. in Social Relations from Harvard University (1959). She studied at the Sorbonne University in Paris under a Fulbright fellowship. Career awards included a John Simon Guggenheim Foundation award (1981) supporting her scholarship on family memories, being elected as a member of the National Academy of Education (1979), and being named the Outstanding Professor of the Year Award of the Student Senate at Teachers College (1990-91). Early in her career she worked with the Russell Sage Foundation and maintained contacts with the Foundation throughout her career at Teachers College. 

Professor Leichter will be remembered particularly fondly for her teaching and mentorship of students. Current and former students recently contributed to an unpublished collection recounting their extraordinary advising experiences with “Professor Hope” including many one-on-one creative mentoring discussions lasting late into the night. As a scholar and member of the Teachers College and Columbia University communities Professor Leichter believed in the enduring value of individual approaches to education, in open and respectful communications across families and educational institutions, and in trusting families to navigate complex educational environments. Her mentorship inspired students and alumni is a testament to her intellectual prowess and ability to connect with and see the best in others. Her loss will be profoundly felt by the countless lives she touched at Teachers College. 

Professor Hope Jensen Leichter is survived by her three sons, Frederick Stinson Leichter, William Joseph Leichter, and James Jensen Leichter, and her three grandchildren Alexander, Claire, and Caroline. Her husband of 59 years Henry Otto Leichter (Columbia M.S. 1950, J.D. 1957) predeceased in 2010. On behalf of the entire TC community, we send our sincere condolences to her family, friends, and loved ones. A memorial at Columbia University to celebrate her achievements and life will be planned for the Fall. 

Sincerely,

KerryAnn O'Meara
Provost and Dean of the College
Professor of Higher Education
Teachers College, Columbia University
she/her/hers

Nicholas Limerick
Associate Professor of Anthropology and Education
Chair, Department of International & Transcultural Studies
Teachers College, Columbia University