Towbes’ First Fellow, 1992 Ph.D. Alumna Tracy Pintchman
Religious Studies Professor, Goddess Guru, and Grateful Award Recipient By Patricia Marroquin
T
he goddesses were smiling on Tracy Pintchman back in 1992 when she
earned her Ph.D. in Religious Studies from UC Santa Barbara. The native New Yorker had written her dissertation on the historical evolution of a Great Goddess figure in orthodox Hindu texts. Even before she finished it, a publisher, SUNY Press, expressed interest in turning it into a book. “I had a book contract within nine months of finishing my Ph.D.,” Dr. Pintchman said in referring to what would become the 1994 book, “The Rise of the Goddess in the Hindu Tradition.” Pintchman was doing the right research at the right time. “As one of the peer reviewers noted,” she said, “in the early 1990s, goddess studies were ‘a growth industry.’” The female deity she wrote about proved to be a
wanted to pursue her Ph.D. in the discipline, her advisor
cash from the book deal. This research as well as her
suggested UC Santa Barbara. “I applied to Religious
other excellent doctoral work at UC Santa Barbara, aided
Studies Ph.D. programs at just two universities, Harvard
by an endowed Louis H. Towbes Graduate Fellowship,
and UCSB,” Pintchman said. “While I was accepted to
also helped lead to a job offer of a tenure track position at
both, the funding I received at UCSB was much more
Loyola University Chicago before she completed her Ph.D.
robust than what Harvard offered. I liked both programs,
Pintchman grew up in New York’s Westchester County in a largely secular Jewish family, the youngest of three daughters. Tracy had no ties to Chicago when she headed to Loyola in 1992, and she had not imagined staying in the Windy City more than a few years. But today, 22
but getting the Towbes Fellowship support at UCSB was for me the deciding factor.” Pintchman was the first Louis H. Towbes Fellow, in the 1987-88 academic year. Soon after coming to Santa Barbara, Pintchman was
years later, Pintchman is still at Loyola University Chicago,
fortunate to meet Michael Towbes and his late wife, Gail,
as a Professor of Religious Studies and Director of the
for lunch, where they discussed a mutual interest in music.
International Studies Program. She has won teaching
“The fellowship supported me fully for four years
awards; and has written, edited, or co-edited seven books.
through teaching and research assistantships,” Pintchman
Married for 19 years to another Loyola professor,
said. “I took one year off in the middle of my Ph.D.
Dr. William C. French in Theology, whom she met shortly
program to study in India, and that year was supported
after moving to Chicago, Pintchman has two children:
by a different fellowship. So I was able to complete my
Noah French, 12, and Molly French, 14.
doctoral program in five years without having to take out
If not for a Towbes Fellowship – which is marking
14
from Boston University in 1987. When she decided she
“green” goddess for Pintchman, as it earned her some
any student loans or work at McDonald’s.”
more than 25 years of awards to UCSB students –
While studying at UCSB, Pintchman’s “work-life
Pintchman probably would have gone to Harvard.
balance” skewed heavily toward the “work” side, by her
She earned her master’s degree in Religious Studies
own choosing.
www.graddiv.ucsb.edu