Robert W. Gilmore

Robert Wallace Gilmore, (deceased) "an organizer of peace and civil rights groups and the founder of an agency devoted to improving education worldwide, died of a heart attack Friday [1998] at his home in Miami. He was 67 years old and had suffered from Alzheimer's disease. He also maintained a home in Manhattan.

"Dr. Gilmore was the founding president and director emeritus of the American Forum, a nonprofit agency based in Manhattan that works to improve elementary and secondary school education throughout the world. The agency was formerly called Global Perspectives in Education.

"From the late 1940's through the 1960's, Dr. Gilmore, a Quaker, was active in peace and civil rights groups. He was an organizer of the Congress on Racial Equality, known as CORE, and took part in civil rights programs sponsored by the Quakers. He was also an organizer of the National Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy, known as SANE, the Committee for Non-Violent Action, the International Confederation for Peace and Disarmament and the Committee for a Political Settlement in Vietnam.

"Dr. Gilmore had been a partner in Publisher's Clearing House, the magazine subscription company based in Port Washington, L.I.

"He was involved in many civic and philanthropic organizations and was a president of the New York Friends Group, a branch of the Society of Friends, or Quakers.

"Dr. Gilmore was head of the United States Table Tennis Association in 1972, when it sponsored the visit of a table tennis team from the People's Republic of China, the first cultural exchange with China in 27 years.

"He was a board member of various institutions and organizations, including the Council on Religion and International Affairs, Earlham College in Richmond, Ind., and the Museum of the City of New York.

"Dr. Gilmore was born in Eaton, Ohio, and was a graduate of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He received a doctorate in psychology from Yale University and was a post-doctoral fellow with the National Institute of Mental Health in Washington. He also taught at Kenyon College in Ohio, the University of Pittsburgh and at Yale.

"From 1942 to 1946 he served in the Army Air Corps.

"He is survived by his wife, the former Elizabeth Burke; a daughter, Elspeth, and a son, William, both of Manhattan."

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 * Joyce Mertz-Gilmore Foundation