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79 JFK AND BEYOND

Study Group Continues Eaton’s Work

At the memorial service for Kennedy School Professor Susan Eaton MPA 1993, who died in December 2003 at the age of 46 from complications from leukemia, much was discussed: her life as a friend and family member, the impact she had on students and co-workers after just a couple of years at the Kennedy School, her ongoing dedication to the rights of workers, particularly women in the health care industry.

But perhaps the biggest tribute to Eaton happened not in the formal speeches about her life and work, but during a brief conversation between two of her former students who had attended the ceremony. That afternoon, the two decided that the best way to honor Eaton was to have her work continue. With the support of the Wiener Center for Social Policy, Madeline Snow MPA 2001 and Hilary Marcus MPA 2000 started a study group focused on managing people — Eaton’s specialty.

“We decided to do this because Susan’s work was so important. There was a sense that it should be
continued not only at the Kennedy School, but in the community,” says Snow, a former teaching assistant for Eaton. “Her work was so vital.”

“Susan was a unique person. It felt like a huge hole, like there would be a gap at the school,” says Marcus, who also served as a teaching assistant. “I wanted to bring attention to the issues that Susan was paying attention to.”

Eaton worked for 12 years as a union negotiator, trainer, and manager for the Service Employees International Union, AFL-CIO, and the Child Labor Coalition. As a researcher, she focused on the sociology of work organization, the quality of health care management, and gender equality. One of her most recent studies looked at the critical link between quality care in nursing homes and working conditions.

When they started the study group, Marcus knew they wouldn’t be able to duplicate what Eaton was able to accomplish. “It’s hard to fill her place. She had a unique background — a grounded work experience perspective, not solely an academic one. She could engage people in conversations no matter where they were starting from. But with the study group, we hoped we could at least provide the spirit of her work.”

Their initial target audience was students who never had a chance to study with Eaton, but they found that former students and community members were also interested in the study group, which met for four sessions this fall. For instance, the first session, which looked at how employees express themselves, attracted a big crowd of local union members. The other sessions focused on connecting the design of jobs with the quality of care and worker satisfaction, and the challenges of integrating family and work.

Both women say that Eaton’s impact on their own careers has been huge. Snow, a government consultant, still uses materials that Eaton used in her teaching. “I even taught an undergraduate course once and relied heavily on Susan’s handouts.” Marcus, who works for the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation, says she does the same thing. “I have the binders from her class in my office and I go back and reread the articles and give copies to other people,” she says.

Marshall Ganz MPA 1993, Eaton’s husband and fellow faculty member, says his wife would have been flattered that her former students wanted to honor her memory.

“I think it’s a wonderful tribute to her way of ‘walking the walk’ that former students who share her values have found ways to carry them on,” he says. “She would have been very pleased. And, she would have been pleased with the outcome of this year’s playoffs and that her favorite player, Johnny Damon, came through.”