UC CECH honors namesake during Women’s History Month

Aside from her efforts at UC, Dyer remained an active member of the Cincinnati community. She served on the Cincinnati Board of Education and the Board of Consumer Conference of Greater Cincinnati, worked as a chairman of the committee standards for the licensing code for day care centers and nursery groups, and was a member of the Citizens Advisory Committee and the Cincinnati Dietetics Association.

Although Dyer retired before the peak of the women’s liberation movement, she always reminded herself of her goal to advocate for women. She believed that women could be successful on their own, in any career field, while still being able to provide for their families. She believed that women had a purpose beyond that of motherhood. 

Serving as Chi Omega’s president long before the political rage in the 1960s and early 1970s provided Dyer experience in handling women’s issues decades in advance. Dyer's  leadership in Chi Omega was described early on as an expression of “radiant personal charm and intelligence.” She strongly valued education for all women.  

Dyer was thoughtful, diplomatic and well respected was how she was viewed by many of her Chi Omega sisters. She is one of four Chi Omegas to have ever served as NPC Chairman alongside Jobelle Holcombe, Mary Love Collins, and Jean Mrasek. The four women and their husbands were invited to the 1964 Miss America Pageant.

In 1972, Dyer moved to the Marjorie P. Lee Retirement Community in Hyde Park. She died  on Wednesday, May 24, 1989, at the age of 98. UC's Teachers-Dyer Complex is named after her in honor of her work within the university.

Dyer's legacy of advocating for experiential education, as well as individual success and freedom for women, lives on not only through the university, but through many Chi Omega chapters across the nation.

Dyer’s resilience and position of women being valued in the workplace, transcends throughout CECH to this day. The staff and faculty within CECH are composed of many backgrounds and ethnicities. The diversity extends into the leadership where women are often major players in college and university-wide life changing initiatives.

The women in leadership positions at CECH has created scholarships that serves the general student population such as the CECH Transfer Scholarship and the Forever Bearcat Scholarship. These groups champion CPS Strong, a key part of UC's strategic direction “Next Lives Here," by working with Cincinnati Public School officials to achieve educational transformation and positively impact the future of our university and our city.

CECH has been acknowledged for its award-winning Student Services Center that serves as a model for student advising, which is stewarded by a leadership team of men and women.

Dyer’s education work and passion for young children can be seen through the Arlitt Center for Education, Research, & Sustainability, which is a five star “Step Up to Quality” learning center that is open to the residents of Cincinnati. The School of Education also reopened the Clifton Neighborhood School located on Clifton Avenue giving the Clifton neighborhood an official elementary school for grades K-2, adding an additional grade each year.

The tone and expectation that Dyer has created continues to thrive and remain relevant within the initiatives, programs, and strategies that UC staff and senior leadership continue to develop today and in the future.