York University Professor Emerita Marilyn Zivian died peacefully on Nov. 20, 2017 after a prolonged battle with breast cancer.
Zivian was a long-serving faculty member at York University.
After receiving her PhD in psychology from the University of Michigan, she began her teaching career in 1977 at York University in the Department of Psychology, Atkinson College.
She was a talented teacher and perceptive researcher, but also made a number of administrative contributions as chair of the Department of Psychology at Atkinson, as the director of the Graduate Program in Psychology and as an associate dean in the Faculty of Graduate Studies.
She retired in 2004 and moved to San Francisco where she continued to use her methodological and statistical skills to help the Breast Cancer Action organization to evaluate the research being done in the field. Her contributions led to her being appointed to the Board of Directors of that organization. She was also a member of the Board of Directors of the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, a group formed to promote the appreciation and performance of chamber music, both old and new.
Zivizn is survived by her husband Arthur Zivian, her son Eric Zivian and her granddaughter Hélène Langlamet, all of whom live in the San Francisco Bay Area.