Remembering Marilyn Loden, who gave a name to the glass ceiling

https://www.npr.org/2022/09/05/ [login to see] /marilyn-loden-glass-ceiling
When Marilyn Loden first uttered the phrase "the glass ceiling" in the 1970s, and even as it became an increasingly permanent fixture of the lexicon, she hoped the invisible barrier it described would soon become a thing of the past.

Instead, it outlived her. Loden — who died in August at age 76 after a battle with cancer in — was saddened to know that would be the case, according to a recent obituary in the Napa Valley Register.

"I thought I would be finished with this by the end of my lifetime, but I won't be," Loden told The Washington Post in 2018. "I'm hoping if it outlives me, it will [become] an antiquated phrase. People will say, 'There was a time when there was a glass ceiling.' "

While the glass ceiling may be Loden's most memorable contribution to society, it's far from her only legacy.

After her early years in human resources, Loden went on to become a management consultant and workplace diversity advocate who worked with a wide variety of entities, from Citibank to the University of California to the U.S. Navy. Her work at the Navy led to policy changes increasing leader accountability for sexual harassment and lifting the ban prohibiting women sailors from serving on submarines, and she received its civilian Superior Service Medal in 2016.