Early Life and Education
Phyllis Ann Wallace was born on January 17, 1925, in Baltimore, Maryland. She demonstrated exceptional academic talent from an early age. She attended New York University, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in economics in 1943 at the age of 18. She continued her studies at Yale University, receiving her Master of Arts degree in 1944 and her Ph.D. in economics in 1948, making her the first African American woman to achieve this distinction from Yale.
Career and Contributions
Wallace's distinguished career spanned government service, academic research, and civil rights advocacy.
Government Service and Early Research
After completing her Ph.D., Wallace held various economist positions within the U.S. government, including roles at the National Bureau of Economic Research and the Department of Labor. Her early work focused on international trade and economic development. She also worked as an economist for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for a period.
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
From the mid-1960s to the early 1970s, Wallace served as the Director of Research at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. In this pivotal role, she provided crucial economic analysis and expert testimony in landmark civil rights cases. Most notably, she was instrumental in the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. American Telephone & Telegraph (AT&T) case. Her comprehensive statistical analysis of AT&T's employment practices revealed systemic discrimination against women and minorities, leading to a groundbreaking settlement in 1973 that mandated significant changes in hiring, promotion, and pay practices and provided millions in back pay. Her work on this case became a model for future employment discrimination litigation.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
In 1972, Wallace joined the faculty of the MIT Sloan School of Management as a professor of management. She was the first African American woman to be granted tenure at MIT. At Sloan, she established and directed the Industrial Relations Section, where her research continued to focus on labor markets, discrimination, affirmative action, and the economic status of minority groups and women. She retired from MIT in 1986.
Key Works
Wallace authored and edited several influential books and numerous articles that shaped the fields of labor economics and public policy:
- Blacks in the Federal Bureaucracy (1974): An early and comprehensive analysis of the employment experiences of African Americans in the U.S. federal government.
- Equal Employment Opportunity and the AT&T Case (1976): A detailed account of the landmark AT&T discrimination case, highlighting the role of economic analysis in proving systemic discrimination.
- Women in the Workplace (1982): A collection of essays exploring various aspects of women's employment, including issues of wage gaps, occupational segregation, and work-family balance.
- Black Women in the Labor Force (1982): A pioneering study that examined the unique challenges and contributions of African American women in the American economy.
Legacy
Phyllis Ann Wallace passed away on February 23, 1993, at the age of 68. Her legacy is profound. She not only broke racial and gender barriers in academia and the field of economics but also made enduring contributions to the understanding and eradication of employment discrimination. Her rigorous empirical research and advocacy laid much of the groundwork for modern equal employment opportunity policies and significantly influenced the economic status of women and minorities in the United States. She is remembered as a pioneering scholar, a dedicated civil rights advocate, and an inspiring role model.
Awards and Honors
- Recipient of numerous fellowships and grants throughout her career.
- Held leadership positions in various professional organizations.
- Inducted into the National Academy of Public Administration.