Honoring Barbara Dixon ’69 Through Career Education

Her husband, Christopher Dixon, recalled a friend’s observation after Barbara’s death, underscoring how powerful a presence she was, defying expectations with quiet authority and demanding respect the moment she appeared. “You have to remember that in those days (the 1970s), when a man walked into your office, he looked at your chest before he looked at your face,” the friend told him. “But when Barbara would walk into a room, everybody would take a step back.”

Now, through a transformative gift from Christopher to Vassar’s Center for Career Education (CCE) programming and The Dede Thompson Bartlett Center for Admission and Career Education, Barbara’s legacy of empowerment and strategic thinking will continue to inspire future generations of students and alums seeking to chart their own extraordinary paths. The gift will provide funds for on- and off-campus programs, internship opportunities, professional development, networking, career advisement, and will bolster staffing to support students as they embark on their career journeys. And all of these services will be housed in the innovative new Center for Admission and Career Education, which has also benefited from the Dixon gift.

This investment in future generations of Vassar students draws inspiration from Barbara herself, whose career was marked by visionary leadership and a fearless drive to pursue her dreams.

Charting a Course in Finance

A member of Vassar’s last all-female graduating class, Barbara studied history and had an early interest in urban planning. After a brief stint working alongside a city planner, she joined Hayden, Stone & Co.—what would become Shearson Lehman Brothers—as an assistant to Richard Donchian, the father of trend following, a precursor to the computer trading of today. She was one of the first women in the managed futures business. She quickly proved to be a formidable force in futures trading, managing several commodity funds. In 2005, she was elected to the Future Industry Hall of Fame. She met Christopher on a blind date in the early 1970s, just as he was starting his own career as a filmmaker.

“I can’t emphasize enough how important that group of women in that last all-female class is,” Christopher said. “We had all grown up through the 50s, and there was this whole notion that if you got a really good education, you could do anything you wanted to do … And if you went to a prestigious university or college, the doors were wide open to you, and folks took that seriously. [The Class of 1969] worked hard.”

Barbara did, indeed. She rose through the ranks, shattering the glass ceiling to become a renowned trader and honored member of the FIA Futures Industry Hall of Fame. She became a senior manager in the commodity division and one of two women executive vice presidents at Shearson American Express, where, among other responsibilities, she participated in college recruiting efforts. Shearson acquired Lehman Brothers in 1984, and she continued in senior roles until she left Lehman in 1992. Still, she felt the pull back to her earlier interests in the natural world and green spaces.

A Shift Toward Stewardship

Barbara ultimately left Wall Street to pursue her passion. She became Vice Chairman of New Yorkers for Parks, a non-profit dedicated to the creation, protection, and care of New York City’s green spaces. She later joined The Cultural Landscape Foundation, a national nonprofit focused on educating people about landscape and fostering meaningful engagement with the world around them. She also served as one of the directors of WellMet Philanthropy (a woman-led philanthropic collective committed to research-driven grantmaking and supporting emerging nonprofit organizations in New York City).

“Once Barbara left Wall Street, she focused on the whole notion of sustainability, of open space, of the landscape that surrounds us, education, the impact of climate change,” Christopher said, “and that’s part of her legacy as much as she was successful on Wall Street.”

Christopher’s own career evolved from filmmaking to securities analysis, culminating with his role as Managing Director and Global Coordinator of Entertainment and New Media Research at UBS. He also taught finance for 14 years at NYU’s Stern Graduate School of Business.

Together, the Dixons helped found Stone Acres Farm in Stonington, CT, in 2016 and helped launch the Yellow Farmhouse Education Center in 2017. Situated on the farm, the center’s mission is to “use culinary and farm-based education to connect people to each other and to where their food comes from so that we can cultivate a shared commitment to supporting a local, sustainable food system accessible and affordable to all.”

Barbara remained committed to these natural organizations until her sudden passing in September 2023. Christopher remains Chair of Stone Acres Farms.

“Barbara grew up in Poughkeepsie and went to Vassar, which was an integral part of her life. She would tell you her success was primarily because she felt that Vassar taught her about primary sources,” Christopher said. “To be able to find and dig and get an answer that could easily be supported–that led her to a logic that she was able to use in her later career.”

Back to Vassar

Wanting to honor her where her legacy began, Christopher reached out to President Elizabeth Bradley to ask how he might support the college in her name. She mentioned the soon-to-be-constructed Bartlett Center.

“Yes, it’s always fun to have your name on a building,” he said, “but the real meat and potatoes that help organizations like the [Center for Career Education, or CCE] is to know that there’s money available that can be used for all the administrative needs. One of the important things to me is to know that the gift is not just for the building, but for administrative purposes.”

Christopher found the opportunity serendipitous. Not only would his gift help students as they embark on their career journeys, but the architect behind The Bartlett Center is Maryann Thompson Architects, who also built the Dixons’ home.

“Career education is really important,” Christopher said. “There are the tactical and technical pieces—How do you write a resume? How do you tell the story about yourself? How do you define that process? Finding a career is finding something that you want to do, combined with your particular skill sets and personal capabilities, and, at the same time, understanding the technical aspects of how to go about getting a job. It’s a very important part of development.”

Vassar’s CCE is adopting a Life Design model, empowering students to shape their career paths through intentional exploration and planning. With support from the Dixon gift, the CCE will expand programs that offer real-world experience through internships; student organizations such as the Vassar Business Club and the Healthcare Industry Club; and hands-on learning. Personalized advising, workshops, and mock interviews will further equip students and alums to reach their career goals.

“Building on the success of signature programs like Sophomore Career Connections, an expanded Life Design model and four-year plan will prompt students to see connections between their curricular and extracurricular pursuits, and to practice articulating the meaning and value of their liberal arts education,” Stacy Bingham, Associate Dean of the College for Career Education and Interim Director of Fellowships, said. “In short, we are giving students the tools to navigate a lifetime of career decisions and changes.”

When asked what Barbara would have thought of the gift, Christopher chuckled. He described Barbara as straightforward and humble, someone who likely would have questioned the decision at first. But once she saw the tangible impact it had on students and alums, she’d be ecstatic.

Barbara’s Legacy

With this gift, Christopher aims to ensure that students and graduates not only launch successful careers but also live fulfilling lives. His support goes beyond the bricks and mortar to bolster the programming and administration that make transformative career education possible. The Atrium and Career Studio within The Bartlett Center will be named for Barbara.

“I found it important that she be honored at Vassar, and at the same time, to be able to give back some of what Vassar had created and informed in this extraordinary woman,” Christopher said.

As of this reporting, construction on The Bartlett Center is well underway and is expected to be completed in November 2025. The new building at the corner of Raymond and Collegeview Avenues will house both the CCE and the Office of Admission. Learn more about The Bartlett Center.