Women Over 70: Aging Reimagined
101 Beatrice (Bebe) Magee: Progress for Women in Science, Rowing and Music
Imagine what it might have been like to be a serious female science student in the early 1960s
only to be barred from a doctoral program after receiving a masters. Bebe (Beatrice) Magee,
age 81, provides a glimpse into her early history. In 2007, Bebe retired as a Senior Scientist in
the College of Biological Sciences at the University of Minnesota. For more than 45 years, she
and her husband, Pete, collaborated on scientific research that led eventually to ground-
breaking work having implications for debilitated patients with potentially deadly infections. In
retirement, Bebe expanded her engagement in rowing (which she started at age 54) to include
teaching and officiating at rowing regattas. She has been able to spend more time in choral
activities, singing with the Calliope Women’s Chorus--the 2nd oldest feminist chorus in the U.S.--
and with the Voices of Experience (singers over age 55). Married for 56 years, Bebe and Pete
live in a big old house in St. Paul, MN, with no plans to downsize.
"Although I am not much in favor of getting older, I am very happy with this stage in
my life." - Beatrice Magee
Contact information
Magee002@umn.edu
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