A Memorial Tribute to Professor Eleanor Main

Former student wears his mentor’s gown

By Mary J. Loftus

Commencement was especially meaningful for Eric Wearne 08PhD, who received his doctorate in educational studies. Although Wearne lost his adviser, Eleanor Main, director of Emory’s Division of Educational Studies, to cancer in February, he wore her gown in the ceremony. “She was always kind and generous with her time and energy with me, but I think she was that way with everybody,” said Wearne, director of data analysis in the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement in Atlanta. “She passed away right before my [dissertation] defense, but this kind of let her be there at the very end with me.” “Dr. Main was encircling [Wearne] with her presence and her gown,” said Charles Howard Candler Professor of Educational Studies Carole Hahn. This spring, Main was posthumously honored by the President’s Commission on the Status of Women with a Mentoring for Leadership Award.