Emily Taylor

Emily Taylor speaks to a group on Febraury 11, 1973. She is wearing a pin that reads "Keep the Equal Rights Amendment".

Emily Taylor (seated center) joins members of the newly formed advisory board for the Emily Taylor Women's Resource Center (ETWRC) at a conference on April 22, 1977.

Upon her retirement from KU in 1974, the Kansas Board of Regents renamed the Women’s Resource and Career Planning Center she established in the dean of women’s office as the Emily Taylor Women’s Resource Center. Today it is the Emily Taylor Center for Women and Gender Equity.
Emily Taylor served as KU Dean of Women from 1956 to 1975. She was instrumental in creating many innovative programs at KU like the Nunemaker Center and Hashinger Residence Hall, among many others. She transformed the Dean of Women's Office. It no longer functioned as a two-person staff but grew to a varied program with numerous employees and graduate assistants.
Taylor very vocal in her support of more independence for female students. She redirected the focus of Associated Women Students (AWS) from social activities and administration of behavioral rules toward career planning, academic learning, and leadership. Upon her retirement from KU in 1974, Taylor became the Director of the Office of Women in Higher Education at the American Council on Education. She stayed in that role until 1985 when she officially retired but would remain active in women's issues until her death in 2004.