Dotty Lynch, a School of Communication executive in residence and prominent figure in the D.C. political scene, passed away early Sunday evening at a D.C. hospital.
The recently retired 69-year-old passed away after complications from melanoma, according to a Washington Post article.
Lynch made an impact in Washington as one of the first pollsters to introduce the gender gap issue to political office hopefuls. In the mid 1980s, Lynch analyzed national politics as CBS News’ political editor, according to Lynch’s SOC faculty page.
After a career advising White House hopefuls, a Kennedy administration, surveying for the Democratic National Convention and working with CBS News, Lynch joined SOC’s faculty in 2006. Lynch merged politics and communication in the classroom and became instrumental in the creation of the SOC and School of Public Affairs masters in Public Communication program, Rose Ann Robertson, SOC’s associate dean for academic administration, said.
Robertson recognized how Lynch’s expertise and versatility became essential as a professor.
“Dotty was one of a kind,” Robertson said. “She was a journalist, a pollster, a political analyst and an extraordinary teacher. She conveyed to her students the excitement about the political process that she felt every day.”
Lynch’s passing was met with a Twitter outpouring in remembrance. Bob Schieffer, Diane Sawyer and Gwen Ifill were among the famous names that gave their condolences.
RIP Dotty Lynch, as smart as she was good as she was generous to all of us in and around politics. #wayfarertoast
— gwen ifill (@gwenifill) August 11, 2014
Really sad and shocked to hear that my former AmericanU</a> Journalism Professor Dotty Lynch passed away <a href="https://twitter.com/AU_SOC">AU_SOC has lost a great teacher
— Julie Kinzer (@jekinzer) August 11, 2014
Our condolences are with the family of Professor Dotty Lynch. A true asset to AU and a trailblazer in her field. She will be missed dearly.
— AUSG KPU (@AUSGKPU) August 11, 2014
“Her legacy was that she brought the outside in,” SOC professor Amy Eisman said. “At any given point somebody spectacular who was very much a key player in the political world would be at the end of her phone.”
Lynch retired in May with hopes of traveling around the world. Paris was at the top of her list for the summer, according to SOC Assistant Professor and Division Director Pallavi Kumar.
Lynch is survived by her husband, Morgan Downey, and stepson, Robert Downey.
