![Photo of Elizabeth "Betty" Bugie Gregory](/women_pictures/Bugie Gregory_Elizabeth "Betty".png)
Elizabeth "Betty" Bugie Gregory
Personal Information
Born: 1920
Died: 2001
Country of Birth: USA
Nationality: USA
Ethnicity: White
Education
NJ College for Women (now Douglass Residential College) BS Microbiology; Rutgers University MS Microbiology
"“If women's lib had been around, my name would have been on the patent."(scientistafoundation.com); "
— Elizabeth "Betty" Bugie Gregory
Professional Life
Field of Study: Microbiology
Institution/Corporation: Merck & Co.; Rutgers University
Degrees & Memberships: None found
Awards & Achievements
Awards: None found
Achievements: 1943-1944 with Selman Waksman & Albert Schatz discovered streptomycin; worked on antimicrobials which could protect plants from Dutch elm disease; after the discovery of streptomycin she worked on micromonosporin, a pigmented glycoprotein which was active against gram-positive bacteria; worked for Merck & Co. evaluating pyrazinoic acid and penicillin as antibiotics against mycobacterium tuberculosis & developed several antimicrobial substances;
when the team that discovered streptomycin applied for the patent, they left her name off the application because they believed she would get married & have a family some day so it wouldn’t be important for her to get the recognition she deserved
was eventually awarded 0.2% of the royalties for streptomycin
Waksman took full credit for the discovery of Streptomycin & won a Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1952 for it
after raising her daughters she returned to get a graduation degree in library sciences