Asbed is retired after a long career in pharmacy and as a writer.

As an undergraduate she wanted to be a math major, but changed to English because it was more lady-like, she recalls. Asbed now lived in Naples, Fla.

Did you maintain contact with Radcliffe after graduation? Through donations, reunions, etc?

I did a lot of alumnae work, for the alumnae association. I have attended seminars and Radcliffe’s program in management. I am on the Radcliffe Alumnae Board of Management, am a class officer and have participated in every reunion since graduation. I always thought that I was an admission experiment on the part of Radcliffe, and that I have been paying Radcliffe back ever since.

Did you follow the merger at all? In the late ’70s? 1999?

I think each step of every decade has brought education for women closer to its goal. When we were here, we were halfway there. Even though we attended class at Harvard, there were a lot of indignities. We were not allowed to call ourselves Harvard students. Each step along the way has brought progress for women.

Did you ever expect Harvard and Radcliffe to merge?

I think we wondered if it would ever happen. I have certainly worried that there would not be a true agency for women at Harvard.

What do you think of what Radcliffe has become—an institute for advanced study?

I wish it well. When I heard Dean Faust speak, I was persuaded. She is a remarkable woman. I am happy that the Radcliffe name is preserved, but Radcliffe as I know it was really the undergraduate student body. I am really enthused for both the undergraduate women at Harvard and for the women on the track toward professorships in the Institute. When we were here there were no women professors in the entire University, at least that I knew of. We had no role models, but we didn’t realize it— those were the times.