Colleen Callahan

Colleen Callahan, universally admired for a lifetime of accomplishments as an educator and as a beacon of inspiration for her perpetually positive and generous spirit despite ongoing Medical challenges, died on August 27 at her home in Bethesda, MD. She was 70 years old.

Colleen was a professor of economics over a fulfilling 40-year career in higher education at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA, Occidental College in Los Angeles, CA, and American University in Washington, D.C., where she served 24 years before retiring in December 2024. Colleen, whose research focused on United States monetary history in the 19th and early 20th centuries, regularly taught undergraduate and graduate students in a range of macroeconomics, financial economics and economic history courses. Among her greatest joys from teaching were connecting with and impacting a wide variety of students at different phases of their educational careers and learning as much from her students as they learned from her.

Colleen earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Miami University in Oxford, OH and a PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She was honored with the prestigious Jonathan Hughes Prize for Excellence in Teaching Economic History from the Economic History Association in 2010 and with Lehigh University’s Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1991. Colleen was the first woman to achieve tenure at Lehigh’s College of Business in 1989. She was a member of the American Economic Association and the Economic History Association for which she was a two-time Chair of the EHA’s Committee on Teaching. Colleen also published, presented and edited numerous papers and was a referee for academic publications and organizations. A popular instructor and respected colleague, she not only shattered glass ceilings as an educator but also served as proof that physical disabilities do not limit what one can accomplish and as a testament to the indomitable value of strength and kindness.

Colleen is survived by her husband of 40 years, Bobby Goldwater, who she met at Miami University; her mother, Joanne, and sister, Anne Cerrezin (Mark) of West Chester, OH; brother Tim (Kathy) of San Antonio, TX; brother-in-law James Goldwater (Shannon) of Alexandria, VA; sister-in-law Joanne Dement (Leon) of Lexington Park, MD; and 17 nephews, nieces and godchildren. Her father, Walter, and a brother, John, predeceased her.

A funeral ceremony is scheduled for Sunday, September 7 at 11 a.m. at Pumphrey Funeral Home, 7557 Wisconsin Avenue, Bethesda, MD 20814, and will be live-streamed on the website.

Interment will be on Saturday, September 13 at 12 p.m. at Ferncliff Cemetery, 280 Secor Road, Hartsdale, NY 10530. A visitation and gathering for family and friends will take place at 10 a.m. on September 13 at Edwin L. Bennett Funeral Home.

A celebration of Colleen’s life for family and friends will be held on Sunday, September 21 at 2 p.m. at Chesterwood Village, 8073 Tylersville Road, West Chester, OH 45069.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Colleen's memory either to the Arthritis Foundation, www.arthritis.org, or to Miami University, King Library Dean's Discretionary Fund,[email protected].