Genevieve Marcus, Ph.D. – Co-Founder of the Green Party
Lecturer, scholar, author, editor, television producer, research director, and CEO of Experimental Cities, Inc., a nonprofit organization seeking positive solutions to social and environmental problems afflicting cities worldwide.
Dr. Marcus graduated from UCLA summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, completed a Ph.D. in Historical Musicology and served as a lecturer in the music department. Her book, New Concepts in Music From 1950-1970 has been studied by music students for many years.
She worked with the L.A. Philharmonic Orchestra, writing program notes and consulting on Outreach (The pre-concert talks and Casual Fridays were some of her contributions.). She served on the board of Experiments in Art and Technology where she collaborated with scientists at UCLA, CalTech, USC, and UCSD designing art projects. She designed computer art projects for Computer Image Corporation. With partner, Bob Smith, she co-founded Experimental Cities, Inc. in 1972.
She was an early Internet user and Initiated and researched the organization of a national computer-based Education Network to improve the teaching of critical thinking and creativity in the classroom (for the U.S. Commissioner of Patents). In July, 1994 she served on the first panel to review and help establish guidelines for proposals requesting NTIA funding ($26 million in 1994 — $100 million in 1995). As a member of the Rebuild L.A. Urban Planning Task Force, she worked intensively to bring free telecommunications to the ghetto areas of L.A.
Dr. Marcus’s work has centered on equality between women and men. Her research led to the book, Equal Time: Maintaining a Balance in Today’s Intimate Relationships (Frederick Fell, 1982) and workshops on relationships conducted in cooperation with the Humanistic Psychology Association, The World Future Society, and the Association of Marriage and Family Counselors. She published a newsletter, The New Relationships for several years.
After briefly contemplating a run for Co-Senators, Bob and Genevieve ran for Co-Governors of California on the Democratic Party ticket in 1982. They emphasized the idea that every elected office should be represented by both a female and a male. Because of the novelty of the idea, they received extensive publicity nation wide and promoted the concept throughout California through lectures, articles, and television appearances.
The Green Party was then in its early formative years, but it seemed to represent what she was finding in her research on Experimental Cities, e.g., basing government on a set of Values, including Feminism and Gender Balance, Decentralized Grassroots Democracy, Social Justice and Equal Opportunity, Community-Based Economics, Future Focus and Sustainability. She became a co- founder of the party and has served in many offices and committees ever since.
