grew up in East Lansing, Michigan, daughter of Wilbur and Edna Brookover. A 1959 graduate
of East Lansing High School, she received a BA from Indiana University and an MA and PhD
from Duke University. Linda was Professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences,
School of Public Health, UCLA. She spent 47 years on the faculty at UCLA. For many years
she also played cello in the Los Angeles Doctors Symphony Orchestra and in the Santa Monica
Symphony, where she was also on the Board of Directors.
Dr. Bourque worked extensively in disaster and emergency preparedness. At UCLA, she
co-led the launch of the Center for Public Health and Disasters, one of the first academic centers
of its kind in the nation. Linda’s publications in disaster and emergency preparedness include
assessments she led of preparedness efforts, community responses and hazard mitigation efforts
in the wake of the Northridge, Loma Prieta and Whittier Narrows earthquakes.
Dr. Bourque authored and co-authored numerous scientific articles and books about
processing data and conducting surveys in the context of public health, ophthalmic clinical trials,
intentional and unintentional injury, and community perceptions of and responses to disasters.
Her work to address rape and sexual violence includes the noted book she authored in 1989,
Defining Rape.
Linda is survived by her brother George and his wife Patricia, of East Lansing and their
children Eliza and Sam, by brother Tom of Bloomfield Hills and his son Jacob, and by many
thousands of valued students, colleagues and friends. Linda was a unique and special individual
who will be deeply missed by all of those who had the great fortune of having known her.
There will be no funeral services. Private burial will be at a later date near the family
farm in Bippus, Indiana.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Santa Monica Symphony Association, P.O.
Box 3101, Santa Monica, California 90408-3101 or to the East Lansing Educational Foundation,
501 Burcham Drive, East Lansing, Michigan 48823.
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