died in Portland, Oregon, Dec. 12, 2015 after battling brain cancer for 20 years. Lafky, professor emerita of journalism and mass communication at the University of Iowa, was 62.

She began her education in her home state at the University of Oregon. After receiving her bachelor’s degree there, she received a master’s and Ph.D. from IU.

As a member of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Lafky received the Presidential Service Award in 1995, the Baskette Mosse Award for Faculty Development in 1996 and the MaryAnn Yodelis Smith Research Award in 1998.

Lafky was a founding editor of the journal Feminist Teacher and worked at newspapers including the Herald-Times in Bloomington and Portland’s Oregonian.