When Mary Elizabeth Corcoran joined the University of Minnesota's Department of Educational Psychology faculty in 1957, she was the only woman working in the research statistics department. By the time she retired 30 years later, Corcoran had become a national leader in the field — influencing and mentoring generations of women who would follow.

"She was smart and assertive and a model for those of us who would come later," said Jean King, a professor at the U and director of the Minnesota Evaluation Studies Institute (MESI).

Said Stacey Stockdill, CEO of EnSearch and a former Corcoran Ph.D. student: "She was my instructor at first and then became very much a mentor and adviser. She was unique and a good mentor for many women."

Corcoran, 94, of Minneapolis, died July 24, but the lessons she taught — challenging her students to challenge research and conventional belief and to become critical thinkers — continue on in the many students she influenced, Stockdill said. Even after she retired as professor emeritus in educational psychology in 1986, her influence in the field was substantial. She generously supported the university's Policy and Evaluation Studies Program, providing grant money to many students for travel and research.

King, who came to the university in 1989, said Corcoran financially supported a lecture each year at MESI and she made a point of personally attending the gathering. "She came every year, well into her 80s," King said.

Corcoran was born in Providence, R.I. She earned her bachelor's degree from Hunter College, her master's from Stanford University and came to the Twin Cities in 1953 for doctoral studies. By that time, she had already done important research for the Educational Testing Service and had been a faculty member at the University of Vermont.

After completing her doctorate at Minnesota and joining the Educational Psychology faculty, Corcoran spent nearly two years in Paris directing a team that conducted the first international study of admission to higher education. Studying access to higher education would become a lifelong interest.

"She was a mover and shaker" when she arrived at the U, King said. Her work would continue to be influential and her research focused on three areas: issues of access to higher education, faculty studies and higher education policy studies and evaluation.

Stockdill, whose company now helps foundations evaluate major initiatives, such as HungerFree Minnesota, took one of her first doctoral classes from Corcoran: meta-analysis, which uses a statistical approach to combine the results from multiple studies to more accurately gauge the effects of what is studied.

"She really made us really look at it in-depth and challenge it in many ways," Stockdill said. "She pushed us to really challenge the logic behind the numbers."

While her former instructor was "very much tough as nails," Stockdill said, years later she would remember who Stockdill was and "always have a smile."

After retiring, Corcoran continued to serve on various university committees and boards. In 2009 she published a book — "The Murray-Lohan Family: Their Irish Roots and American Homes" — tracing her family history and Irish roots.

She is survived by two nieces and four nephews. Services have been held.

James Walsh • 651-925-5041