In memoriam: Ida-Lorraine Wilderson, PhD ’72
Educator and civil rights champion
Ida-Lorraine Wilderson, PhD ’72, Minneapolis civic leader, child development expert, and educator, died January 25 at age 86. In Minneapolis Public Schools, Ida-Lorraine Wilderson worked as a principal and a coordinator for the special education department. She was widely known for her community leadership and opening her Kenwood home in Minneapolis as a meeting ground for neighbors and others, from students to corporate executives, who were interested in civic and social change.
Born in New Orleans, Wilderson moved to Minnesota with her husband, Frank, a professor of educational psychology who became the first chair of the African American studies department and later the University’s first black vice president. In their careers as educators and clinical psychologists, the Wildersons traveled the country and the world, sharing their expertise. Ida-Lorraine is survived by her husband and four children and their families. Services were held February 23.