Barbara Linné Kroll Pillsbury Milne

Barbara Linné Kroll Pillsbury Milne

Barbara Linné Kroll Pillsbury Milne, 69, of Malibu, CA and Washington, DC, passed away on September 27, 2012. Barbara had a driving interest in working in developing societies to improve women’s health, family planning, child survival and women’s rights. She traveled to some 100 developing nations where she worked assiduously to improve lives through pioneering research and policy recommendations.

As a cultural and medical/public health anthropologist, she held positions with many governmental and non-governmental organizations, including WHO, UNFPA, UNICEF, USAID, the World Bank, International Planned Parenthood Federation, and the Rockefeller, Hewlett, Ford, Gates and Compton foundations. Her numerous research papers, conference presentations and international reports are genuine contributions to international development, reproductive and sexual health, HIV/AIDS education, child health and global gender issues.

Barbara was genius at languages. She spoke thirteen tongues, with particular interest in Chinese. As a tall, vibrant, blond, and intensely interested and interesting woman, she would win the hearts of everyone in an American Chinese restaurant as she ordered the meal in fluent Mandarin. Indeed, restaurant personnel would flood out of the kitchen to share their lives with Barbara. She brought this same verve, compassion, wit and intelligence to everyone she met—from colleagues in international development to villagers in deepest Sudan and Indonesia.

Barbara had a profound interest in applying the theoretical and practical knowledge of anthropology to world issues, and she worked diligently to enable others to pursue these same goals. She was the founding president of the National Association for the Practice of Anthropology, a division of the AAA which supports students and scholars who work outside of academia. Barbara also helped found six other organizations, most notably the Pacific Institute for Women’s Health. She served on numerous boards of directors, including the American Anthropological Association, the Global Health Council, and the International Women’s Health Coalition. For her outstanding achievement in translating anthropological data and ideas into actions that address world problems, Barbara won the Praxis Award of the Washington Association of Professional Anthropologists (WAPA).

Born and raised in Bemidji, MN, Barbara graduated from the University of Minnesota, earned an MA in applied linguistics from Columbia University Teachers College, and a PhD in cultural anthropology from Columbia University, mentored by Margaret Mead. Her doctoral dissertation on Muslim Chinese remains a foundational work for scholars in this field.

Barbara was the daughter of Richard Kroll and Edna (Engvall) Kroll of St Louis Park, MN; cherishing mother of Heather Milne (David) Cristman of Cincinnati, OH, and Kristina Milne of New York City, NY; and beloved by sisters Connie Kroll Skildum of Eagan, MN and Anne Kroll (Doug) Dahlen of Burnsville, MN and many other relatives.

Barbara Pillsbury has touched—and improved—the lives of countless men, women and children. She will be deeply missed by friends from every walk of life in every corner of the planet.

Contributions may be sent to The Molly Gingerich Fund (301/670-0994) or SHARE Institute (www.theshareinstitute.org), two organizations that help young women around the world. (Helen Fisher)

via Anthropology-News http://www.anthropology-news.org/index.php/2013/01/09/barbara-linne-kroll-pillsbury-milne/