Laurel Bates Preston ’78

Laurel Bates Preston ’78 died at home in Medina, Washington, on April 19 after a three-year battle with cancer. Laurel came to Dartmouth from Timonium, Maryland, and lived in New Hamp her first year. She was a rower and majored in math. As part of the study abroad program, she spent the summer of 1975 in Leningrad and a winter term in Vienna studying music. In 1983 she received an M.S. in math from Rice University, followed by a Ph.D. in linguistics from the University of Washington in 2014. Laurel was involved in various community activities. She served on the Bellevue Schools Foundation board of trustees, where she was elected president (2008-09); on the PTAs for Stevenson Elementary and Odle Middle School; and for six years on the Medina Planning Commission, which she chaired from January 2020 to December 2022. She was an avid reader with an eye for art. She is survived by her husband of 43 years, Stephen; children Jason, Hillary ’09, and Conrad; and grandchildren Julian, Lina, and Astrid.