In Memoriam: Marilyn J. Matelski

After joining the BC faculty in 1978, Dr. Matelski became the department’s first female full professor in 1992, served as chair from 1995-1998, and developed the department’s first radio lab, which subsequently was transformed into a multi-media center.  Upon her retirement in 2017, she became the department’s first female professor emerita.

“Marilyn was a devoted teacher and cherished faculty mentor,” said longtime colleague Donald Fishman, an associate professor and assistant department chair.  “She was quick witted and quick thinking and had a way of getting at the essence of a problem with an astute solution.  Her death is a great loss for our department and generations of BC students.”

Dr. Matelski authored—or co-authored, with Nancy Sweet—13 books on broadcast media, media history, and American business in China, and published over 50 scholarly articles. In 2004, she told BC's undergraduate newspaper The Heights, "I've always liked writing, yet I continue to be astonished if a publisher is interested. I've been lucky. I haven't been turned down yet."

An avid traveler, Dr. Matelski’s conducted her research in multiple countries, and was invited to judge the first public speaking contest in Nanjing upon the return of Hong Kong to China. In addition, she appeared on NBC’s “The Today Show" and was asked to interview pioneering female television sitcom stars Shirley Jones (“The Partridge Family”), Susan Clark (“Webster”), and Barbara Billingsley (“Leave it to Beaver”) at the Museum of Television and Broadcasting in Chicago.

It was her role as a teacher, and as one who dedicates her whole self to her students, however, for which she was best known. BC football legend Doug Flutie ’85 has cited Dr. Matelski as one of his top two BC faculty members.

“I had switched into a communication major [from computer science] and had several courses with her, but I really appreciated how she went out of her way to help me out with my own public speaking, interviews, and television appearances,” Flutie told the Boston College Chronicle in 2013. “I remember watching an interview of me after the high school all-star game and realizing how shy and quiet I was; I wouldn’t even look at the camera. Between taking courses, Marilyn’s help, and just by doing all those interviews, the difference from freshman to senior year was amazing.”

Although she originally sought a career in television, Dr. Matelski declined an offer to become a weather reporter, and instead took a job teaching, which instantly became her primary passion in life.

"The great thing about BC is that the students are so great," she told The Heights.  "There is always a sense of energy and optimism. I have days where things just don't go so well, and I walk into a classroom, and I just forget [the bad]."

When asked whether—if forced into a decision—she would give up writing or teaching, she immediately chose the former. "I have the luck to be in a profession that I feel good about and get so engrossed in. Do what you love to do because [that way] it will always be fun.”

Born in Fort Wayne, Ind., and raised in Detroit, Dr. Matelski earned a bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University and master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Colorado.

Dr. Matelski was preceded in death by her parents, Harry Alfred and Carol, and her brother, Harry (Chip) Matelski, Jr.  She is survived by Nancy Street; nieces Janet Carol Matelski-Smith, Lisa Anne Holland, and Amy Lynn Matelski; great nephew, Tiernan Dietrich Smith; and many cousins. The family wishes to acknowledge its gratitude to the staff on the fourth floor of the Good Samaritan Hospital in Brockton for their compassionate care and resourcefulness during her lengthy illness.

Private family services will be held.  In lieu of flowers, remembrances and donations may be made to the Blackfeet Nation in Browning, Montana, c/o Montana Community Foundation in the memory of Marilyn J. Matelski. Notes of condolence may be sent to Dr. Nancy Street, 17 Hilltop Lane #3, South Easton, MA 02375.