May B. Hollinshead, 96, women's-rights advocate

May B. Hollinshead, 96, of Marlton, a longtime professor of anatomy at the New Jersey College of Medicine and Dentistry who went from fighting for women's rights to fighting for the elderly as a member of the Gray Panthers, died Sunday, July 4, at CareOne in Evesham.

Dr. Hollinshead made headlines when she sued the College of Medicine and Dentistry in 1972, saying it promoted men who were less qualified than she to the rank of full professor while keeping her as an assistant professor.

The state Division on Civil Rights backed Dr. Hollinshead, and in 1976 the Appellate Division of Superior Court upheld the division's order to promote Dr. Hollinshead to full professor and give her back pay with interest, according to a 1976 article.

The college then stuck her with a schedule that was not conducive to her field of embryology, her son, Richard, said. She sued again and in 1978, the court had to dictate her schedule to the college.

"It was a long battle," her son said. "She felt it was worth it, particularly for her grandchildren" and other women who were struggling to advance in their careers.

When Dr. Hollinshead turned 65 in 1989 and had to retire, she joined the Gray Panthers.

At 90, she was president of the Gray Panthers' North Jersey Chapter and still trying to round up people to help her fight for universal health care. She was active in the Panthers until breaking a hip two years ago.

"They hear the word gray, and it turns them off. I think it's such a juvenile attitude," she said in 2004.

As a schoolgirl in New York City in the 1930s, May Block was fascinated by science. Her Russian immigrant mother, a seamstress, emphasized the importance of education.

After graduating from high school in 1930, she majored in biology at Hunter College in New York. She graduated in 1936 and worked at various colleges as a lab assistant.

In 1941, she started a graduate science program at Columbia University but had to stop in 1942 after she married military psychologist Merrill Hollinshead and had to move to different bases. She worked at labs near the bases where her husband was stationed.

In 1947, the couple returned to New York, and she went back to Columbia, where she received a doctoral degree in embryology in 1951.

She worked as an anatomy instructor at New York University for about five years before landing a job as assistant professor of anatomy at the New Jersey College of Medicine and Dentistry in 1956.

As an embryologist, Dr. Hollinshead did much research and served on various committees, but teaching was her "big thing," her son said.

Dr. Hollinshead lived in Leonia, Bergen County, for 60 years before moving to Marlton in 2008.

In addition to her son, Dr. Hollinshead is survived by two grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Her husband died in 1994.

Dr. Hollinshead's family will receive friends between 10 and 11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 7, at the Funeral Manor, 1585 Hider Lane, Gloucester Township. A celebration of her life will follow at 11.