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Woman Who Drowned In Cape Cod Pond Was Swarthmore College Professor

"The Swarthmore community has lost one of its most dedicated, talented, and generous faculty members," the Pennsylvania college's president said

The woman who drowned in a Wellfleet, Massachusetts, pond Sunday was a Swarthmore College professor.

Eva Travers, 77, was found unresponsive in Long Pond on Saturday and rushed to a local hospital, authorities said Monday. She was a resident of Cambridge, Massachusetts. 

Travers taught at Swarthmore for 31 years, according to her profile page on the college's website. She was an emerita professor in the educational studies department, and specialized in urban education and educational policy. In 1999, she received an award for outstanding teachers at the college. 

"The Swarthmore community has lost one of its most dedicated, talented, and generous faculty members, and the guiding force of one of our most influential departments," said Valerie Smith, the Pennsylvania college's president, in a statement. "She will be dearly missed, and we extend our deepest sympathies to her family and loved ones."

Police were called Saturday at 5:12 p.m. about a possible body floating in Long Pond. She had been spotted by two local swimmers, Wellfleet police said.

Personnel on the scene performed CPR and she was brought to Cape Cod Hospital.

Travers' career featured a 17-year study of women's personal and political development from 1970 and 1987 and field research in Hungary during the country's democratic transition, according to her faculty profile. She received her doctorate in education from Harvard University. 

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