Alice S. Rossi has spent her teaching and writing career studying social change and the life course, with emphasis on women's and family issues. She was born in New York City on September 24, 1922, and was educated there as well. The daughter of William A. and Emma Winkler Schaerr, she graduated from Brooklyn College in 1947. She withdrew from studies during World War II, 1942-46, to join the war effort. Her duties included employment in the War Manpower Commission and the lend-lease program, a system by which the United States aided its allies with war materials. Other duties included work as an air force base special order clerk. She married her second husband, Peter Henry Rossi, in 1951. They have three children, Peter, Kristin, and Nina. Rossi returned to college and earned a Ph.D. from Columbia University, New York City, in 1957.

While pursuing her doctorate, Rossi spent time as a...