Volume 60, Number 20    January 28, 2013         

Helen Mau
Professor Emerita of Consumer and Family Studies/Dietetics Helen Mau passed away on Thursday, Jan. 10 at the age of 91. Mau was born and raised in Guelph, near Toronto, Canada, during the Great Depression. She attended the University of Guelph and earned her bachelor's degree in household science from the University of Toronto, and graduated first in her class.

Mau taught home economics, counseling and mathematics at various colleges and technical schools before earning her master of arts in education from the Columbia University Teachers College, where she subsequently earned a doctorate in education. In 1955, Mau joined SF State where she earned tenure and taught until her retirement in 1987.

Her interest in developing programs for low income families in nutrition, home economics, education, meal planning, consumer credit counseling and dress making and material later led her to develop a program to rehabilitate drug addicts in a house with the help of former addicts. The San Francisco Businessmen's Association named her "Consumer Person Of The Year" among numerous awards and recognition.

After retirement Mau and her husband, Charles, moved to Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, where she pursued her passionate interest in wildlife: she could recognize more than 100 kinds of birds in Ontario and British Columbia. A service celebrating her life was held on Jan. 13 at the First Metropolitan Church, where she had been an active member.

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Last modified January 24, 2013 by University Communications.