Alice K. (Koerner) Wolf

Alice K. Wolf, a ground-breaking political leader with a long and distinguished career which included serving as Mayor of Cambridge and State Representative of the 25th Middlesex District, died peacefully at home on January 26, 2023, following a short battle with leukemia.

A passionate and pragmatic liberal, Wolf worked to make government accessible to all. Her focus was early childhood education, children at risk, and equality & equity for all people (especially women, racial and religious minorities, and the LGBTQ community). Her vision and compassion led her to pursue goals and policy solutions years, sometimes decades, ahead of common recognition of the need.

Alice Koerner Wolf was born to a Jewish family in 1933 in Vienna, Austria. Her parents, Fritz and Renee Koerner, fled Nazi persecution in 1938, bringing the family to Brighton, Massachusetts. Wolf attended high school at Boston Girls Latin School and graduated from Simmons College in 1955 with a degree in Experimental Psychology. In the same year she married Robert Wolf. In 1978, she earned a master's degree in public administration at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. And was later awarded an honorary Doctorate of Education by Wheelock College.

Her career started at M.I.T. Lincoln Laboratory in 1955 where she co-authored a paper "Baseball: An Automated Question Answerer" which described an early attempt at using artificial intelligence techniques to answer questions phrased in plain English. Later, she worked at Bolt Beranek and Newman as well as Computer Corporation of America.

Her decades-long career in public service began with the Parent-Teacher Association of the Peabody School in Cambridge. Deep involvement as a parent with school affairs ultimately led to her election in 1973 to the Cambridge School Committee, where she served until 1982. On the School Committee, Wolf championed an end to patronage hiring through community involvement in decision-making (such as the hiring of school principals), crafted the first plan for racial desegregation of the city’s schools, and provided leadership in the reimagining and rebuilding of the city’s high school.

In 1983, Wolf was elected to the Cambridge City Council, where she served for ten years. Wolf’s work on the Cambridge City Council included sponsoring the Cambridge Human Rights Ordinance in 1984. She led the creation of the Cambridge Kids Council, dedicated to developing policy recommendations and programs aimed at improving the quality of life for children, youth and families in Cambridge. She also led the city initiative to create a domestic partners ordinance, and establish the commission that enforces the ordinance. She was key in establishing abortion services at Cambridge Hospital. Wolf was the sponsor of the first Mayor's Gay Pride Breakfast, where she was named an "honorary lesbian", a title she wore proudly.

Wolf was passionate about acting locally to address larger issues of justice. She was instrumental in working with the Cambridge Peace Commission to create a "Peace Curriculum," a program of peace education for the public schools. She led marches and did research to support "economic conversion," trying to convince local companies to convert military-focused enterprises into peace-oriented activities. She developed Sister City relationships with San José las Flores, Chalatenango, El Salvador and Yerevan, Armenia and led the effort to make Cambridge a Sanctuary City for immigrants. She helped to establish the annual Cambridge Holocaust Commemoration and to bring together Cambridge people of diverse backgrounds to support our Muslim neighbors after 9/11. In 1990, Wolf was elected by her City Council peers to serve as the mayor of Cambridge for the 1990-92 term.

In 1996, Wolf was elected to the State House, where she served until January 2013 and was the House Chair of the Committee on Elder Affairs and on the Women’s Legislative Caucus. She was regarded as one of the most progressive legislators in the State House. During her tenure, she worked to promote gender equality, LGBT rights, marriage equality, minority and immigrant rights, environmental causes, education, health care, reproductive rights, affordable housing, education and senior issues. When faced with barriers to progressive legislation, she identified allies, worked within coalitions, and created strategies to move forward. She was willing to work tirelessly to move the mountains of legislative bureaucracy on issues she cared about.

Wolf was recognized for her advocacy through numerous honors and awards including the Executive Office of Health and Human Services Department of Mental Health 2010 Certificate of Appreciation; the 2009 School-Based Health Center Legislative Champion Award; the 2007 NOW Legislator of the Year; the 2007 Byron Rushing Freedom of Religion Award from the Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry; the 2006 Massachusetts Family Planning Association Leadership Award; the 2005 Champions of Children Award from Massachusetts Advocates for Children; and the 2005 Early Education Leadership Award from the Massachusetts Association of Community Partnerships for Children.

Wolf worked closely with activists and other leaders in their efforts to support marriage equality and prevent political attacks on equal rights, believing that human rights should not be determined by popular vote.

After Alice Wolf retired from the State Legislature, she became a senior advisor at Massachusetts Advocates for Children, a non-profit that works to remove barriers to educational and life opportunities for children and youth. She focused on special education, trauma sensitive schools, and legislation related to school discipline.

Throughout her political career, Wolf was a tireless activist within the Democratic Party. She worked on local, state, and national campaigns, served on the Democratic State Committee for 40 years, and was a delegate to seven Democratic National Conventions (most recently and proudly as a Hillary Clinton delegate in 2008 and 2016). For her own campaigns, she enjoyed talking with voters across Cambridge – whether knocking on doors or inviting them to coffees to discuss their concerns.

Wolf was also a Fellow in the Distinguished Fellows Program at the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy at UMass Boston. She served as a consultant to Tufts University Center on Hunger, Poverty and Nutrition Policy. Her numerous accomplishments led to the naming of the Alice K. Wolf Center in Cambridge, which houses several city agencies focused on housing and education.

In addition to public service, Wolf loved spending time with her family and friends, and was known especially for her cooking skills. She was also an avid swimmer and yoga practitioner.

Wolf is survived by her husband Robert, sons Eric and Adam, her daughters-in law Beth and Andrea, 4 grandchildren (Thomas, Patricia, Kayleigh, and Matthew) and 4 great-grandchildren (Brandin Jr, Teddy, Harmony, and Jack).

A private funeral for family & friends will be held on Tuesday, January 31st.

A public celebration of Alice’s life and work will be announced at a later date.

Shiva will be observed at the family home, 48 Huron Avenue, Wednesday and Thursday from 4-7pm. (Per Alice’s wishes, masks will be required at both the funeral and shiva).

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to:

Massachusetts Advocates for Children (MAC), www.massadvocates.org or Cambridge Community Center, www.cambridgecc.org