Marianne Helen Mitchell

Marianne Mitchell, 85, of Bloomington, Indiana, died on December 3, 2022, at her home in Bloomington. An internationally recognized authority on counseling and guidance, and a national leader in women’s athletics during the Title IX era, she was Emerita Professor of Education in the Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology at Indiana University where she taught from 1966 to 2001. She was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in August 2022.

Dr. Mitchell was the first woman to represent the faculty of Indiana University at the Big Ten Intercollegiate Athletics Conference and the National Collegiate Athletic Association. She served on both organizations from 1986-1922. Before taking these posts, she was an elected member of IU’s athletics committee from 1978-1984. She chaired that committee from 1985-1992. The American Counseling Association asked her to help educate counselors in Indiana about Title IX. She was national president of that 60,000-member organization from 1991-1992.

Author of thirteen textbooks with career-long colleague and friend, Robert L. Gibson, Dr. Mitchell specialized in the practice of counseling and guidance, school counseling, management of counseling programs, and the counselor and human sexuality. Robert Gibson was a member of the faculty and chair of the counseling department in the School of Education at Indiana University. He was Marianne Mitchell’s major professor in her doctoral program at the University of Toledo. Gibson and Mitchell published the leading textbooks in their field for 25 years.

The reach of Marianne Mitchell’s service and research was international. With Gibson, she established counselor education programs in Scotland and Bermuda. She co-directed those programs for 25 years. She published comparative studies of the academic achievement of elementary school pupils in the United States and the British Isles, and was the director and principal, of a study of counseling and pupil-personnel services in Europe and the United States.

Professor Mitchell served as project associate, director, or principal investigator on 11 funded projects, including studies sponsored by the United States Office of Education, the State of Indiana, and the Ford Foundation. Her investigations ranged from evaluations of vocational education and opportunities for women in higher education to reducing school drop-out rates.

Besides presiding over a national counseling association, she consulted with the Scottish Council for Research in Education, the Chinese University in Hong Kong, Beijing Normal University, and the Technical and Educational Research Center of Harvard University. In 2015, she was recognized by the Ministry of Education and the Department of Education of for exemplary service and guidance to Bermuda.

Marianne Helen Mitchell was born on April 8, 1937 in Toledo, Ohio, to Frank H. and Helen B. (Metzger) Mitchell. Her father was a sales representative; her mother, a bookbinder. She attended Toledo public schools. Her work ethic began early and lasted long. From 11 to 18 years old, she worked in a baker and pharmacy, had a newspaper route (the first girl in Toledo to have one), and was a lifeguard. As a teenager, she started an aquatic program for handicapped people. In high school and college, she swam competitively. During this time, she was a national champion in synchronized swimming.

After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Toledo, she taught English in a secondary school in Toledo. In 1961, she received her master’s degree in counseling and guidance, and her doctorate in counselor education in 1964, both from Toledo. In 1964, she began her university career as an assistant professor of counseling and guidance at Central Michigan University in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. Indiana University hired her in 1966 as an assistant professor of education.

She never regretted her move to Bloomington where she remained for the rest of her life. “At Indiana University,” she said, “if you can dream it, you can do it.” At the time of her death, her Bloomington neighbors had been an extended family for many years.

Dr. Mitchell was the first woman hired for a tenure-track position on the counseling faculty in the Indiana University School of Education. She taught courses on group counseling, career counseling, professional ethics, values clarification, and counseling practicum, and internship. Besides textbook authorship, her research focused on group counseling, international counseling, and women’s development.

Her service activities included membership on five faculty governance committees in the School of Education, board membership of the Center for Human Growth, and membership on seven campus-wide committees, including the University Names Committee. She chaired the NCAA Equity Committee (IU’s NCAA accreditation committee) from 1995-1996, and served as a member of the National Board of Directors of the IU Varsity Club from 1986-1992.

Marianne Mitchell was a fierce advocate and enduring role model for women in athletics, the female professoriate, professionalization of counseling students (particularly in elementary and secondary schools), and the mental health and social well-being of all people.

She is survived by her brother Robert F. Mitchell; niece, Linda Tucker; and nephews, David Mitchell and Robert F. Mitchell Jr.; all of California. She was predeceased by her nephew, Tom Mitchell.

Arrangements are being handled by Day & Deremiah-Frye Funeral Home. A celebration of life will be announced at a later date. Memorial contributions may be made to Indiana University Foundation, P.O. Box 500, Bloomington, IN 47402 (Marianne H. Mitchell Counseling Scholarship) or to an organization of the donor’s choice.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.DayDeremiahFrye.com for the Mitchell family.