Audrey Cohn-Sandler earned her BA (1961) and her MA (1962) from the University of Chicago. She joined the Social Sciences faculty at Ryerson in 1967, earning tenure in 1969. She became chair of the Sociology Department in 1977 and was re-appointed in 1980, and 1983. While at Ryerson, Cohn advocated for expanding student residences and was instrumental in the opening of the Neill-Wycik residency on Gerrard Street. Ms. Cohn-Sandler died in March of 1986 in a house fire. In November of 1987 the Cohn-Sandler Reading Room was established in her honour on the 6th floor of Ryerson Library (Cohn changed her name to Cohn-Sandler when she married David Sandler in 1982). Because she had taught courses in Sociology and the Family while at Ryerson, the reading room was designed to accommodate books on this subject. However, the room was closed as a reading room for sociology students approximately 5 years after opening. The memorial plaque outside the room continued in use up until approximately 2010. In 2010, the Department of Sociology inaugurated the Audrey Cohn-Sandler Award in Sociology, a monetary award given in honour of Cohn-Sandler to current Sociology students who demonstrate her sense of caring and community.