Elizabeth Scott; UC Professor and Feminist

Elizabeth L. Scott, an emeritus professor of statistics who helped reveal the “gender gap” in salaries for women, died Tuesday, the University of California announced. She was 71.

Scott, an ardent feminist who was an accomplished astronomer, gained national attention in 1974 with studies that showed conclusively that women faculty members at major universities were paid substantially less than men.

“She was not afraid to stand for what she believed in,” said Lucien Le Cam, professor of statistics and a colleague of Scott’s for 38 years. “She was once expelled from the Men’s Faculty Club because she argued about ‘Men Only’ rooms.”

The club later dropped “Men’s” from its title and opened membership to all faculty.

Besides helping start the trend toward equal pay for equal work, Scott made major contributions to the understanding of the spatial distribution of galaxies, the likelihood of success in attempts to modify the weather, and ozone layer depletion and its link to skin cancer.

She is survived by her mother, Elizabeth W. Scott of Berkeley, and three brothers, Richard C. Scott Jr. of Newport Beach; John W. Scott of Versailles, France, and Loxley R. Scott of Salinas, Calif.

Funeral services were scheduled for Friday in Berkeley.