Alice Augusta Ball
Personal Information
Born: 1892
Died: 1916
Country of Birth: USA
Nationality: USA
Ethnicity: Black
Education
1912, BA in Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of Washington; 1914, BA in Science of Pharmacy, University of Washington; 1915, MS inn Chemistry, University of Hawaii
Professional Life
Field of Study: Chemistry
Institution/Corporation: University of Hawaiʻi
Degrees & Memberships: none
Awards & Achievements
Awards: 2000, February 29 proclaimed Alice Ball Day; 2007, Medal of Distinction, University Board of Regents; 2016, placed on list of Most Influential Women in Hawaiian History by Hawaii Magazine; 2018, a park in Seattle, WA named after her; 2019, the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine added her name to the frieze above their main building; Nov. 6, 2020, a satellite named after her was launched into space; 1935, a chaulmoogra tree was planted in her honor on the campus of the University of Hawaii; 2017, the Alice Augusta Ball endowed Scholarship was established at the University of Hawaii
Achievements: first female & first African-American to earn an MS from University of Hawaii; first female chemistry professor at University of Hawaii; invented an effective treatment for leprosy
Developed the Ball Method for treating leprosy
1st female & 1st African-American recipient of MS from the University of Hawai'i; also University's 1st female & African-american chemistry professor
Her graduate study advisor, Arthur L. Dean, took full credit for her leprosy treatment after her death
1922, Ball's colleague, Dr. Harry T. Hollmann, wrote an article attempting to inform people it was the Ball Method not the Dean Method but no one believed him
1970s Kathryn Takara & Stanley Ali, both professors at the University of Hawai'i, found Ball's research records & made efforts to have her recognized; they finally achieved this in 2000