Cushing N. Dolbeare, an influential housing advocate and researcher, died of cancer on March 17. She was 78. Dolbeare began her career in housing in 1952 at the Citizen’s Planning and Housing Association in Baltimore. Since then, she fought tirelessly for affordable housing. Among the numerous housing agencies Dolbeare led was the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), which she founded in 1974 in response to the Nixon Administration’s temporary moratorium on funding for federal housing programs. She served as executive director from 1977 to 1984 and from 1993 to 1994. She donated her $250,000 Heinz Award for Human Condition to the NLIHC to start the Cushing N. Dolbeare Endowment Fund to encourage research on housing problems. Her family requests that memorial gifts be made to the Endowment Fund.