Prof. Davies of Pomona College, 87

Margaret Gay Davies, professor emeritus of history at Pomona College, died Aug. 3 in Santa Barbara following a long illness. She was 87.

A former Pasadena resident, Davies taught at the college for 15 years before retiring in 1967.

Davies, who suffered a debilitating stroke last February, was a devoted scholar who was popular with students, a colleague said this week.

“She was a careful scholar, very devoted to her research,” said John H. Kemble, a retired Pomona College history professor and longtime friend. “But she was deeply interested in students. She was especially interested in women, in their problems in moving into professional life at various levels. She was a role model.”

After graduating from Radcliffe College, where she received a bachelor’s degree in history as well as her master’s and doctoral degrees in economics, Davies began teaching at Radcliffe and Scripps colleges.

During World War II, Davies was a financial analyst and writer for the Douglas Aircraft Co. in Santa Monica. She received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1961 and was bestowed the college’s Wig Distinguished Professor Award in 1966 for excellence in teaching.

After moving to Santa Barbara, Davies was active in the League of Women Voters and other civic organizations. The Braille Institute and the American Assn. of University Professors recently commended her for her contributions of time and energy to those groups.

“She came back frequently to attend concerts,” Kemble said. The day before her death, Davies attended a concert at the Samartand Retirement Home in Santa Barbara, where she was living, he said.

Davies was married to Godfrey Davies, a historian on the research staff of the Huntington Library in San Marino who died in 1957. Her father, Edwin Francis Gay, was the first dean of the Harvard Business School. She is survived by a niece, Jeanne Gay Loso of North Fort Myers, Fla.