Women
Rediet Abebe
💻 Computer Science
🤖 Artificial Intelligence
- 1st female & Black computer scientist appointed to the Harvard Society of Fellows
- Founded MD4SG & Black in AI
- Born & raised in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; left for educational purposes
- Developes techniques in AI & algorithms with a focus on inequality & distributive justice
- 1st Black female professor in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science Dept at UC Berkeley
Born: 1991
Country: Ethiopia
Education: Cornell University (Ph.D., M.S.)University of Cambridge (M.A.)Harvard University (M.S., B.A.)
Aglaonica Aglaonica
🔭 Astronomy
- 1st or 2nd century Greek astronomer who studied the moon's cyclical patterns & predicted lunar eclipses; also known as Aganice of Thessaly the 1st female astronomer of ancient Greece; was considered a thaumaturge-a magician with the ability to perform miracles by making the moon disappear (now seen as her ability to predict lunar eclipses) was mentioned in the writings of Plutarch & in the scholia to Apollonius of rhodes as a female astronomer & the daughter of Hegetor (or Hegemon) of Thessaly; her followers were known as the "Witches of Thessaly" & were active between the 1st & 3rd centuries BCE; a Greek proverb used in reference to braggarts translates to "Yes, as the moon obeys Aglaonice"
Born: 1st or 2nd century BCE
Country: Greece
Education: Unknown
Joanna Aizenberg
🔬 Chemistry
- Pioneer in field of biomimetic inorganic materials
- was a recurring winner of mathematics Olympiads
- 2013 appeared on an episode of NOVA8Holds approximately 90 patents (66 found)
Born: 1960
Country: Russia
Education: Moscow State University BS Chemistry 1981 & MS Physical Chemistry 1984; Weitzmann Institute of Science PhD Structural biology 1996
Reka Z. Albert
⚛️ Physics
🔬 Biology
🔬 Network Science
- Professor of Physics & adjunct Professor of Biology at Pennsylvania State University
Born: 1972
Country: Romania
Education: Universitatea Babes-Bolyai din Cluj-Napoca BS 1995 & MS 1996; University of Notre Dame PhD 2001; Postdoc research in Mathematical Biology at the University of Minnesota
Virginia Margaret Alexander
⚕️ Public Health
- both her parents were slaves
- mother died when she was 4
- 4th of 5 children born to her parents
- father lost his livery/riding academy when she was 13 due to the increase in automobiles
- she offered to drop out of school to help with family expenses but her father insisted she obrain a quality education
- waited tables, worked as a maid & clerk to pay her living expenses while she attended University of Pennsylvania on a scholarship
- couldn't get an internship in Philadelphia even from her own medical college because she was Black
- relocated to Kansas city where she & a colleague, Mae MacCarroll, became the 1st Black Female interns at Kansas city Colored Hospital
- returned to Philadelphia in 1927 where she began treating patients out of her own home
- described Aspiranto as an example of "socialized"medicine treating Black people who had experienced racism at other Philadelphia hospitals, often free of charge
- had a romantic relationship with W.E.B. du Bois in the 1930s
- her brother, Raymond Pace alexander, became a prominent civil rights attorney & later a judge & member of the Philadelphia City Council
- her pregnant patients were given a 2-week recuperative stay at Aspiranto after giving birth
- attended her 1st Quaker meeting in 1917 & although she experienced racial discrimination within the Quakers, remained one until her death
Born: 1899
Country: USA
Education: University of Pennsylvania BS Education 1920; Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania MD 1925; Yale University MS Public Health 1937
Claudia Alexander
⚛️ Geophysics
🔬 Planetary Science
- Program manager for NASA's Galileo mission to Jupiter
- Born & raised in Vancouver, BC
- Science coordinator for the plasma wave instrument aboard Galileo
- Oversaw trafficking & navigation support from NASA's Deep Space Network for Rosetta mission to study & land on comet 67P?Churyumov Gerasimenko
- Wrote children's books including some of the "Windows to Adventure" series
- Also wrote science fiction
Born: 1959
Country: Canada
Education: 1983, BA in Geophysics, University of California, Berkeley; 1985, MA in Geophysics & Space Physics, University of California, Los Angeles; 1993, PhD in Atmospheric, Oceanic & Space Sciences specializing in space plasma, University of Michigan
Hattie Elizabeth Alexander
🔍 Pediatrics
🔬 Microbiology
📚 Educator
- 1939, developed a serum that decreased infant mortality from meningitis to approximately 25% as opposed to the existing 100%
- 1964, 1st female to head a national medical association (President of American Pediatrics Society)
- 1st female recipient of the Oscar B. Hunter Award
- Developed the 1st effective remedy for Haemophilus influenzae infection
Born: 1901
Country: USA
Education: Goucher College BA Bacteriology & Physiology 1923; Johns Hopkins Medical School MD 1930
Lori Arviso Alvord
⚕️ Medicine - Traditional Healing Practices
- 1994 second Navajo woman to be board certified in surgery(until March 19, 2024 was believed to be the 1st but it was discovered Loretta Lynn Christensen who is 1/4 Navajo was certified 6 months before Alvord)
- was a 2013 nominee for U.S. Surgeon General
- her autobiography, is titled "The Scalpel and the Silver Bear" tells of her cultural journey from reservation to the operating room and of her work to combine traditional Navajo philosophies of healthcare with that of Western medicine
- is a member of the Tsinnajinnie' (Black Streaked Wood) clan (Ponderosa Pine), and of the Ashihii' Diné (Salt People) clan
- was associate dean for student affairs at Dartmouth Medical School as well as assistant professor of surgery and psychiatry at Dartmouth from 1997 to 2009
- today practices at Astria Toppenish Hospital in Toppenish, Washington state, which houses a Native American Spiritual Center in addition to state-of-the-art medical facilities
- played a major role in developing the Central Michigan University College of Medicine
Born: 1958
Country: USA
Education: Dartmouth College AB Psychology & Sociology 1979; University of New Mexico Pre-med classes; Stanford University School of Medicine 1985
Betsy Ancker-Johnson
⚛️ Plasma Physics
⚛️ Engineer
- was the first woman Presidential appointee in the U.S. Department of Commerce 1973 as assistant secretary for science and technology
- fourth woman elected to the National Academy of Engineering
- was an affiliate professor of electrical engineering at the University of Washington from 1961 to 1973
- became the first woman vice-president in the automotive industry as the vice-president of General Motors' environmental activities staff
- has described plasma as a fourth state of matter after liquids, solids, and gases & observed the occurrence of “pinching,” as well as the phenomenon of microwave emission from an electron-hole plasma initiated only by the application of an external electric field; her work in this area lead to subsequent findings that solid-state plasmas can serve as microwave sources of radiation
- advocated for a conversion to the metric system and DNA research, which eventually led to the Genome Project in 1990
- liked traveling, kayaking, backpacking, scuba diving, & earned a yellow belt in Aikido
- after retiring from GM in 1992 began competitively swimming in the Master's swimming program. & at 80 placed third in the 2008 World Masters Championships at Perth in the 800m freestyle
- after her daughter Ruth lost her vision she began reading scientific books for the blind in her honor
- competed in international swimming events into her 80s
- held 5 patents
Born: 1927
Country: USA
Education: Wellesley College BA Physics 1949; University of Tubingen PhD Physics 1953
Dorothy Hansine Andersen
⚕️ Medicine
- was an American physician, pediatrician, and pathologist who first identified, describe & name cystic fibrosis in 1938
- developed a simple, definitive diagnostic test for it
- during WWII developed a training program for surgeons pioneering in open-heart surgery
- did path-breaking research in nutrition
- 1938 while doing an autopsy on a child who was suspected of dying from celiac disease she noticed a lesion in the pancreas which subsequently led to her identifying cystic fibrosis (CF) as a separate disease
- taught anatomy at the University of Rochester
- 1928 was denied a surgical residency at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, NY because she was female
- 1929 joined the staff at the Dept of Pathology at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons
- considered herself a roofer, stone mason, carpenter & cabinet maker & made her own home improvements
- Was considered a "character" by colleagues because she was outspoken, had an untidy lab, & held semi-annual "glug" parties in her lab in honor of her Scandinavian heritage
- her father died when she was 13 & she assumed full responsibility for her invalid mother who died 7 years later
- during WWII was a consultant to the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
- her papers can be found at Columbia University Irving Medical Center Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library
- spent her leisure time at her cabin in the NJ Kittitinny Mountains
Born: 1901
Country: USA
Education: Mt. Holyoke College BA Zoology & Chemistry 1922; Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine MD 1926; Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons PhD Medical Sciences 1935
Gloria Long Anderson
🔬 Chemistry
- Pioneer in the field of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy
- Known for studies of fluorine-19 & solid rocket propellants
- Started school at 4 years old & already knew how to read
- Attended segregated schools with few science & math classes
- In college, signed up for chemistry classes on a dare
- Was rejected for a job at Ralston-Purina as a chemist because she was African-American
- funded her own research; found it difficult to obtain funding due to her race
- Appointed by President Nixon for a term on the corporation for Public Broadcasting's Board in 1972; served 7 years
Born: 1938
Country: USA
Education: B.S. in Chemistry & Mathematics. Arkansas Agricultural, Mechanical & Normal College, 1958; MA in Chemistry, Atlanta University, 1961; PhD in Physical Organic Chemistry, University of Chicago, 1968
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Monica Anderson (Robotics)
💻 Computer Science
🔍 Robotics
- Works on robotics with a focus on multi-agency systems, multi-robot systems & user interfaces
- Director of Distributed Autonomy Lab at Computer Science Dept of University of Alabama
Born: Unknown
Country: USA
Education: Chicago State University BS Computer Science 1990; University of Minnesota PhD Computer Science/Engineering 2006
![Photo of Kathleen "Kay" Rita Mauchly Antonelli McNulty](/women_pictures/Antonelli McNulty_Kathleen "Kay" Rita Mauchly.png)
Kathleen "Kay" Rita Mauchly Antonelli McNulty
💻 Computer Science
- 1 of the 6 Women of ENIAC remembered as "Hidden Figures"
- on the night of her birth during the Irish War of Independence her father was arrested as a suspected IRA member & bomber, he spent the next 2 years in Derry Jail & the family emigrated to the US in 1924 about a year after his release settling in Philadelphia
- Irish was her 1st language & she recalled remembering prayers in Irish for the rest of her life
- attended parochial schools & an all-girls high school & college
- after college graduation was hired as a "human computer" to compute ballistics trajectories used for artillery firing tables at the Ballistic Research laboratory at Aberdeen Proving Grounds with a starting salary of $1,620 yearly
- each gun required its own firing table which had approximately 1,800 trajectories & computing 1 trajectory required 30-40hours of calculation with a calculator
- worked with differential analyser which cut the calculation time to 50 minutes for 1 trajectory, when using ENIAC could complete 1 trajectory in approximately 10 seconds but setting up the computer to run a new calculation could take 1-2 days
- in the very beginning ENIAC program was so highly classified the programmers weren't allowed in the room with it & had to use blueprints to work out the programming
- her team tested the feasibility of the H-Bomb
- at ENIACs launch the women who programmed it were instructed to act as hpostesses & greet those around them, they received no recognition for their work until decades later
- 1948 she married John Mauchly (died 1980) the co-inventor of ENIAC, quit her job at Aberdeen & continued to work with hi on software for other hardware he developed
- her parents, especially her mother, objected to the marriage
- Married 2nd husband Severo Antonelli 1985 & he died 1996
Born: 1921
Country: Ireland
Education: chestnut Hill college BA Mathematics 1942
Mary Arlene Appelhof
🔬 Biology
- hobbies included swimming and award-winning nature photography
- taught science in Michigan
- began experimenting with worms and organic waste in the 1970s
- known as the Worm Woman of Kalamazoo
- marketed worms on a commercial scale
- liked wearing tie-died shirts
- carried a rubber earthworm in her pocket
- holds 1 patent
Born: 1936
Country: USA
Education: Michigan State University BS 1958, MS 1959 both in Biology, MS Education
Maria Alexandra Artunduaga
⚕️ Medicine
- Granted permanent US residency for research contributions to genetics in 2011
- in her free time enjoys flamenco dancing, singing, travelling & fostering diversity inside & outside the work place
- switched from being a surgeon to being an inventor/entrepreneur after her grandmother died of COPD & she sought a cure/better treatment & diagnostics for COPD
- had 1st child at age 42 after a 4-year IVF journey
- sued the University of Chicago Medical Center for country of origin discrimination & lost
- holds 7 patents (only 5 located)
Born: Unknown
Country: Columbia
Education: Pontificia Universidad Javeriana MD 2003; UC Berkeley MTM (Master of Transitional Medicine) 2018; University of Washington MPH 2016; Postgraduate work at Harvard & University of Chicago
Chieko Asakawa
💻 Computer Science
🔍 Accessibility
- Began losing her sight at age 11 after injuring her optic nerve; completely blind by 14
- Developed Netscape browser plug-in, the IBM Home Reader; it is the most widely used web-to-speech system available
- Has developed a word processor for Braille documents, a digital library for Braille documents, an app for improving accessibility of streaming services, & a system that enables sighted web designers to experience the web as blind people do
- Is working on a suitcase robot to help blind people navigate through complicated terrain; Holds 21 patents
Born: 1958
Country: Japan
Education: Otemon Gakuin University, BA English Literature, 1982; University of Tokyo, PhD in Engineering, 2004
Christie Aschwanden
🔬 Science Journalism
- as an athlete enjoys cycling (was a professional cyclist in college) & Nordic skiing (has raced on the Team Rossignol Nordic ski racing squad)
- live in western Colorado on a small winery & farm with her husband Dave (a vintner) & several animals
- winery produces Chill Switch Wines
- enjoys trail running, skiing, bicycling, reading novels, gardening, & raising heritage chickens
- blogs about science at "Last Word on Nothing"
- was a high school track star
- author of "Beautiful chickens" a coffee table book about chicken breeds
Born: 1971
Country: USA
Education: University of Colorado Boulder Biology; UC Santa Cruz Science Communication 1998
Valerie V. Sheares Ashby
🔬 Chemistry
- holds 8 patents & 2 pending in polymer chemistries critical for biomedical applications
- always wanted to be a teacher
- credits her parents with making her the leader she is today; father was a minister & mother was an English teacher who founded & ran a homeless shelter for 30 years after her retirement
- has 4 mentors she consults when needed
Born: 1966
Country: USA
Education: UNC Chapel Hill BA 1988 & PhD 1994 Chemistry
Barbara S. Askins
🔬 Chemistry
- invented a process that intensified underexposed photo negatives revealing details in images from deep space never detected before
- began her career as a teacher; returned to school to complete her BA & obtain an MA after her 2 children began school
- Began working at NASAs Marshall space flight Center in 1975
- was the 1st female recipient of the National Inventor of the Year Award
Born: 1939
Country: USA
Education: University of Alabama Huntsville BA & MA Chemistry
Estella Atekwana
⚛️ Biogeophysics
⚛️ Tectonphysics
- Grew up in Cameroon
- Switched her major from pre-med to geology after a teacher told her girls weren't suited for field work to prove that teacher wrong
- Is a pioneer in Biogeophysics which uses geophysics to understand the biochemical interactions occurring at contaminated sites
- Is involved in a program to use smartphones with geophysical sensors to potentially gather data for institutions that don't have access to expensive equipment
Born: 1961
Country: Cameroon
Education: 1983, BS in Geology, Howard University; 1986, MS in Geology, Howard University; 1991, PhD in Geophysics, Dalhousie University
Balanda Atis
🔬 Cosmetic Chemistry
- Develops makeup for women of color
- Is a 1st generation Haitian-American
- Developed the foundation makeup Lupita Nyong'o wore in ads for L'Oreal
- Holds 3 patents
- Is raising her godchild & adopted a child in Haiti;
Born: 1972
Country: USA
Education: BA in Biology, Rutgers University; MS in Cosmetic Science, Fairleigh Dickinson University
Priscilla Auchincloss
⚛️ Physics
🔍 Dance
🔍 Yoga
- wanted to be a ballerina & spent her early 20s in NY studying modern dance & ballet before deciding she would never master pirouettes & began studying physics
- spent 19.5 years on staff at the University of Rochester before studying Continuum & becoming a certified teacher of it in 2010
- now teaches yoga in Rochester NY
Born: 1952
Country: USA
Education: NYU BA Physics & Astronomy 1977; Columbia University PhD Physics 1987
Donna Auguste
💻 Computer Science
🤖 Artificial Intelligence
- At Apple developed Newton personal digital assistant (PDA)
- She & her 4 sisters were raised by her single mother
- As a child she liked to take things (doorbells & appliances) apart to see how they worked
- 1st female African-American to attend the PhD program at Carnegie-Mellon University
- After working at IntelliCorp on AI, she took 2 months off to bicycle through the countryside of Japan
- 1996, co-founded Freshwater Software Inc & took it from a small startup to a nationally recognized multimillion dollar software provider; 2001 sold the company to Mercury Interactive Corporation of California for $147 million
- Retired in 2001 & founded Leave a Little Room Foundation, LLC; it provides housing, electricity & vaccinations to poor & underprivileged communities around the world
- Holds 14 patents
Born: 1958
Country: USA
Education: BS in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, University of California, Berkeley; PhD in Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon
June Esther Bacon-Bercey
🔍 Radar Meteorology
🔍 Aviation Meteorology
🔬 Geophysical Science
- none
Born: 1928
Country: USA
Education: BA in Meteorology, University of California, Los Angeles, 1954; Master of Public Administration (MPA), University of Southern California, 1979; studied Mathematics 2 years at Friends University before transferring to UCLA
Anna Maria Bailey
⚕️ Medicine
💡 Inventor
- Nothing was found about her except for 1 listing on 1 site & no patent was located in her name; was a doctor in New York
Born: 1905
Country: USA
Education: Unknown
Ellen Harding Baker
🔭 Astronomy
- made a Solar system quilt she used as a teaching aid
- took her 7 years to make
- is 89"x106"
- now at the Smithsonian but has not been on display since 2018
- 1867 married Marion Baker, had 7 children
- died of TB
- qyuikt has a wool top embellished with wool-fabric applique, wool braid & wool & silk embroidery; shows the Sun in the center & 8 planets known at the time with their indicated orbits around the Sun & the asteroid belt all as shown in the astronomy textbooks of the time; also shows the myriad of stars beyond the solar system, the Galilean moons of Jupiter, moons of Earth, Saturn, Neptune & Uranus & Saturn's rings
- upper left corner shows a large comet likely C/1874H1 discovered in 1874 by Jerome eugen coggia
- A.D. 1876 is embroidered in the lower right corner
- 1883 the NY Times picked up the story of the quilt's completion from an Iowa newspaper & dismissed it as a "somewhat comical statement"
Born: 1847
Country: USA
Education: Unknown
Erica Joy Baker
💻 Computer Science
- CTO for Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee; 2015, started an internal spreadsheet where Google employees reported their salary data to better understand pay disparity within the company; 2016, co-founder Project Include;
Born: 1980
Country: Germany
Education: University of Miami, 1 year, no degree; University of Alaska, 2001, Associates of Applied Science in Information Technology; Hackbright Academy, degree in Computer Software Engineering
Sara Josephine Baker
⚕️ Public Health
- Known for tracking down Typhoid Mary (Mary Mallon) twice
- Decided to study medicine after her father & brother died of typhoid
- 1898, graduated 2nd in her class from NY Infirmary Medical College
- Known as Dr. Joe & wore masculine clothing; joked that her colleagues forgot she was a woman
- Believed the way to keep people from dying from disease was to keep them from falling ill; led to her work in the field of public health
- Invented an infant formula made out of water, calcium carbonate, lactose, & cow's milk
- Educated mothers in the care of infants & the necessity of sanitary conditions to prevent dysentery
- Designed a method of storing silver nitrate used in newborns' eyes in single use vials to prevent contamination & subsequent blindness
- Convinced NYC to license midwives & place doctors & nurses in schools to regularly inspect the students; head lice & trachoma cases were reduced to almost non-existent as a result
- Started school lunch programs
- 1917, became the 1st woman to receive a PhD in Public Health
- 1st woman professional representative to the League of Nations, served on the Health Committee 1922-1924
Born: 1873
Country: USA
Education: 1898, NY Infirmary Medical College; 1917, New York University, PhD, Public Health
Alice Augusta Ball
🔬 Chemistry
- 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
Born: 1892
Country: USA
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
Cornelia I. Bargmann
🔬 Biochemistry
🔬 Neurobiology
- Appointed by President Obama as co-chairwoman of the advisory commission for the Brain Initiative
- Made a discovery that ultimately led to the breast cancer drug Herceptin
- 1993, conducted experiments that determined worms could smell
- Helped identify the role of Ras in bladder cancer
- Identified SYG-1 a "matchmaker" molecule that directs neurons to form connections with each other during development
Born: 1961
Country: USA
Education: 1981, BA in Biochemistry University of Georgia, 1987; PhD in Biology, MIT
Amira Barkal
⚕️ Medicine
- became interested in cancer research after her grandmother was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia, did not respond to treatment but entered a clinical trial that extended her life by 20 years
- has 2 patents pending, 1st analysis of polymorphisms in sirp-alpha for evaluating response to immunotherapy & 2nd compositions & methods for inducing phagocytosis
- discovered CD24 protein as part of her dissertation research
Born: Unknown
Country: USA
Education: Oregon state University BS Biochemistry & Biophysics; Stanford University School of Medicine MD 2017, PhD Stem Cell Biology & Regenerative Medicine 2021
Betty Jean Jennings Bartik
💻 Computer Science
- 1 of the 6 Women who worked on ENIAC. The day before it debuted, the world’s first general-purpose computer failed to work & it was up to seven women to stay late and make the beast, dubbed ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) operational
- retired from the computer industry in 1986 & spent the next 25 years as a real estate agent
- content-management framework Drupal's default theme, Bartik, is named in her honor
- was the 6th of 7 children, father was a teacher & farmer
- as a child would ride on horseback to her grandmother's daily, grandmother bought a newspaper daily for her to read & was a role model for her
- began her education in a 1-room schoolhouse & gained recognition for her softball pitching skills; once pitched a no-hit, no-run game; was paid $2 per game to pitch during summers
- moved in with her sister for the freshman year of high school because there was no high school in her town, after that year moved back home (30 miles) & was allowed to drive the 2 miles to the bus to get to school when she was 14
- graduated high school at 16 & was salutatorian
- originally intended to major in journalism but switched major to math because she hated her advisor
- the ENIAC Women were known as the "Sensational six"
- had no manual for how to run the ENIAC & weren't allowed to be in the same room with it until their security checks were completed; learned how to program it by studying construction diagrams & interviewing the engineers who built it then used the information gathered to teach themselves the skills they needed to run it
- The congratulations for the success of ENIAC were given to the engineers, John Mauchly & John Eckert; the women didn't receive recognition for their roles until 1985
- several documentaries were later made to give credit for their work
- her autobiography "Pioneer Programmer: Jean Jennings Bartik & the Computer That Changed the World" was published posthumously in 2013
- a computing museum in Maryville, Missouri is dedicated to the history of computing & her career
- grew up in a 4-room house & worked the fields of the family farm
- was the only math major in her college graduating class; 2 courses were arranged as tutorials & taught by retired teachers so she could graduate
- was a devoted bridge palyer
Born: 1924
Country: USA
Education: Northwest Missouri State University BS Mathematics 1945; University of Pennsylvania MS English 1967
Regina Barzilay
💻 Computer Science
- has been teaching & doing research at MIT since 2003
- emigrated to Israel with her parents when she was 20
- diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014 which prompted her to focus her research on oncology
Born: 1970
Country: Moldova
Education: Ben Gurion University of the Negev BS 1993 & MS 1997; Columbia University PhD Computer Science 2002; Postdoc at Cornell University 2003
![Photo of Elizabeth "Liz" Ann Bates](/women_pictures/Bates_Elizabeth "Liz" Ann.png)
Elizabeth "Liz" Ann Bates
🔬 Cognitive Science
🔍 Linguistics
- served as a visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley in 1976-1977 and at the National Research Council Institute of Psychology in Rome
- The Elizabeth Bates Graduate Research Fund was established at UCSD in her memory to assist graduate students' research
- died after a 1-year battle with pancreatic cancer
- was on the faculty of the University of colorado 1974-81
Born: 1947
Country: USA
Education: St Louis University BA 1968; University of Chicago MA 1971 & PhD 1974 both in Human Development
Marjorie Bear Don't Walk
⚕️ Medicine - Traditional Homeopathic Healing Plants
- most known as an advocate for reforms in the Indian Health Service, and specifically the care of urban Native Americans
- is also a fashion designer who has targeted career women, designing professional attire which incorporated traditional techniques into her clothing
- was born Marjorie Rose Mitchell
- enrolled member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribe & heritage includes Chippewa (Michif Ojibwe) ancestry
- husband was a member of the Crow Nation & founded the Crow Tribal Court
- much of her clothing business was mail-order and she allowed her customers to provide specific fabrics they desired for their custom designs
- 1992 was 11 of the people invited to attend Bill Clinton's inauguration
Born: 1946
Country: United States
Education: Montana State University BS Home Economics & Nutrition 1968
Angela M. Belcher
🔬 Materials Science
- has taught at MIT since 2002
- grew up in San antonio Texas
- originally studied abalone shells
- at UC Santa Barbara was able to design her own major at the College of Creative Studies & liked the idea because she doesn't like to follow rules
- has been interested in biology & the origin of life since middle school
- fell in love with molecules while taking a graduate=level biochemistry class as an undergraduate
- built the 1st virus-based battery
- is dyslexic
- holds 43 patents
Born: 1968
Country: USA
Education: UC Santa Barbara BS Creative Studies 1991 & PhD Organic Chemistry 1997
Dame Susan Jocelyn Bell Burnell
⚛️ Astrophysics
- 1967, discovered the 1st radio pulsars
- 1974, Nobel Prize in Physics for pulsar discover but was one of the recipients because she was a student at the time but many believe she was overlooked because of her gender
- Since 2018 has been Chancellor of the University of Dundee
- 2018, won Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics & used the $3 million prize to establish a fund to help female minority & refugee students to become research physicists; fund is managed by the Institute of Physics
- 2nd female recipient of Copley Prize (2021)
- Attended Lurgan College 1948-1956 but her parents & others had to challenge school policies so she could study science even though she was female
- Failed 11+ exam & was sent to a Quaker girls boarding school
- Is an active Quaker
- 1st female president of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (2014-18)
- 1st female president of the Institute of Physics for UK & Ireland
Born: 1943
Country: Great Britain
Education: University of Glasgow BSc Natural Philosophy (Physics) 1965; University of Cambridge PhD 1969
Ruth Mary Rogan Benerito
🔬 Physical Chemistry
💡 Inventor
- Held 56 patents
- Was known for her work related to the textile industry, notably the development of wash-and-wear cotton fabrics
- Completed high school at 14 & entered college at 15
- Worked at USDA 1954-1986
- Discovered wrinkle-resistant, stain- & flame-resistant fabrics
- Her inventions were said to have "saved the cotton industry"
- Was very humble about her discoveries & often said they were the work of many people
- Her research led to the development of glassy fibers that proved useful in the manufacture of lab equipment
- During the Korean War she developed a way to give fat intravenously to patients too sick to eat; it was a method used to feed seriously wounded soldiers
Born: 1916
Country: USA
Education: 1935, BA Chemistry, H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College; 1938, MA Physics, Tulane University; 1948, PhD Physical Chemistry, University of Chicago; 1972, Post-doctoral Fellowship in Biophysics, Tulane University
Regina Marcia Benjamin
⚕️ Medicine
- none
Born: 1956
Country: USA
Education: 1979, BS Chemistry, Xavier University of Louisiana; 1980-1982, Morehouse College of Medicine; 1984, MD, University of Alabama; 1991, MBA, Tulane University
Evelyn Berezin
💻 Computer Science
⚛️ Physics
- Designed the 1st computer-driven word processor & worked on computer-controlled systems for airline reservations
- Started college at age 16
- Designed a system for the US Army for range calculations
- Developed the 1st computerized banking system
- 1968, had a job offer from NYSE retracted because she was a female 1969, founded Redactron Corporation & made the 1st "Data Secretary"-a word processor the size of a small refrigerator, without a screen, keyboard, or printer, was an IBM Selectric typewriter
- Endowed a scholarship, a chair/professorship/research & discretionary fund for the Linguistics Dept at Stony Brook University
- Held 13 patents (only 8 located)
Born: 1925
Country: USA
Education: 1946, BS, Physics Hunter College
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