Gerald Gardner, a Pittsburgh scientist and social activist who helped end sex bias in newspaper want ads, has died. He was 83.
Gardner's wife, Jo Ann Evansgardner, says he died of leukemia Saturday at a Pittsburgh hospital.
Gardner was a geophysicist who helped develop ways to use seismic vibrations to search for oil underground. But he was also an ardent feminist who used his math skills to develop statistics used in a landmark lawsuit against what was then The Pittsburgh Press newspaper.
As a result of that suit, the U.S. Supreme Court in 1973 essentially forbade newspapers from publishing separate want ads for male and female employees after Gardner developed statistics showing pay and other disparities females faced.
Cremation arrangements are being handled by the H.P. Brandt Funeral Home in Ross Township.
