Women - Women's Innovations

Lois Jotter

🔍 Botany

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Marjorie Stewart Joyner

🔬 Cosmetic Chemistry 💼 Entrepreneur

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🔬 Cosmetic Chemistry 💼 Entrepreneur

1st African-American female to create & patent a permanent hair-wave machine
Was an instructor & executive for Madame C.J. Walker Manufacturing company after the death of Madame Walker
Helped write the 1st cosmetology laws in Illinois
With Mary Bethune McLeod founded United Beauty School Owners & Teachers Association in 1945
1st African-American graduate of A.B. Molar Beauty School (1916)
Received her high school diploma in 1939 & a BA in Psychology from Bethune-Cookman College at age 77
1987, the Smithsonian Institute opened an exhibit in D.C. featuring her permanent wave machine & a replica of her original salon
Held 2 patents

Born: 1896

Country: USA

Education: Chicago Musical College, Certificate for Dramatic Arts & Expression 1914; A.B.Molar Beauty & Culture School 1916; Bethune-Cookman University BA Psychology 1973

Josephine Jue

🔬 Mathematics with a minor in Chemistry

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Anna Roselle Johnson Julian

🔍 Sociology ✊ civil rights activist

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Betty Mae Jumper

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Ula Jurkunas

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Princess Ka‘iulani Ka‘iulani

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Masey Kaplan

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Susan Kare

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Katalin Kariko

🔬 Biochemistry

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🔬 Biochemistry

Her patented technology was used by BioNTech & Moderna to develop their COVID-19 vaccines
She grew up in Hungary in a small home without running water, a refrigerator, or TV
During her primary education she placed 3rd in the country in a biology competition
1985, when her lab lost its funding she, her husband, & 2 year old daughter emigrated to the US, smuggling in $900 pounds in a teddy bear
Her research focus since 1989 has been on mRNA-based gene therapy
Her daughter, Susan Francia, is a 2 time Olympic gold medalist rower
Holds 16 patents
2023, co-winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

Born: 1955

Country: Hungary

Education: University of Szeged, Hungary BS Biology 1978; PhD Biochemistry 1982; Postdoctoral work at Temple University

Isabella Karle

🔬 Chemistry

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Anna Karlin

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Riya Karumanchi

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Kakani Katija Katija Young

⚛️ Bioengineering

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⚛️ Bioengineering

Former ice dancer & member of the US International Figure Skating Team; she & her brother were national ice dancing champions & once were alternatives for the Olympics
Studied the mechanics of swimming & feeding marine organisms
Is a certified research diver
Discovered jellyfish not only push water into their bells, but drag an almost constant flume of water behind them
Leads the Bioinspiration Lab at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI)
She & her team developed tools to study the sea & life within it such as DeepPIV, ITAG, & autonomous underwater vehicles

Born: Unknown

Country: USA

Education: Edmonds College AAS 2000; University of Washington BS Aeronautics & Astronautics 2004; Caltech MS Aeronautics 2005, PhD Bioengineering 2010

Kiowa Kavovit

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Kiowa Kavowit

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Margaret Keane

🎨 Art 🤖 Painting

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Anna Wagner Keichline

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Ursula Keller

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Mary Kenneth Keller

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Sister Mary Kenneth Kellerman

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Sinah Estelle Kelley

🔬 Chemistry

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Florence Kelley

💡 From its founding in 1899 🔍 Kelley served as the first general secretary of the National Consumers League. In 1909 🔍 Kelley helped to create the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

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Louise Kellogg

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Naomi Kelman

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Frances Kathleen Oldham Kelsey

🔍 Pharmacology

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🔍 Pharmacology

As a reviewer for the USFDA she refused to authorize thalidomide for market
Born on rural Cobb Island, British columbia
Learned to read by listening to her mother teach her brother
2nd female recipient of the President's Award For Distinguished Federal Civilian Service
Graduated high school at 15
Wrote to the department head of the new pharmacology department at the University of Chicago asking for a position doing graduate work; he thought she was a male & offered her a position; she began work there in 1936
1950s, became a dual citizen of Canada & the US
Retired from the FDA in 2005 at age 90 after 45 years of service
Died at age 101
Whiloe searching for a synthetic quinine to cure malaria, she learned some drugs could pass through the placental barrier
1937, discovered with E. M. K. Gerling that an isotope of antifreeze in Elixir Sulfamelamide was killing people; led to the 1938 Food, Drug, & Cosmetics Act

Born: 1914

Country: Canada

Education: Victoria College (now University of Victoria) no degree; McGill University BS 1934, MS Pharmacology 1935; University of Chicago PhD Pharmacology 1938, MD 1950

Mary Beatrice Davidson Kenner

💡 Inventor

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Nadia Khan

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Michelle Khine

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Mary Dixon Kies

💡 Inventor

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Ann Kiessling

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Naomi Kilman

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Angie Lena Turner King

🔬 Chemistry 📊 Mathematics

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Reatha Clark King

🔬 Chemistry 💼 businesswoman

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🔬 Chemistry 💼 businesswoman

Former Vice President at General Mills
Her father was a share-cropper & her mother only had a 3rd grade education
Began school in a 1-room school for grades 1-7 at a colored church
Originally a home ec major before switching to chemistry
1st African-American chemist employed at the National Bureau of Standards in D.C.
The techniques & methods she developed for flame fluorine calorimetry are still used today by NASA
Has a strong interest in education & promotes equal education for all

Born: 1938

Country: USA

Education: Clark College BS Chemistry & Mathematics 1958; University of Chicago MS Chemistry 1960, PhD Thermochemistry 1963; Columbia University MBA Financial Management 1977

Ruth Esther Graves King

📚 Educational Psychology

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Mary-Claire King

🔍 Genetics

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🔍 Genetics

Discovered BRCA1 & BRCA2 mutations cause breast cancer
Demonstrated humans & chimpanzees are 99% genetically identical
Uses genomic sequencing to identify victims of human rights abuse
Became interested in science & curing cancer after her best friend died of cancer when she was 15
Spent 1 year working for Ralph Nader investigating pesticide use & its effects on farm workers
Was politically active against the Vietnam War
1984, worked in Argentina & identified 59 children stolen from their parents during the Dirty War (1976-83); was able to reunite them with their families
Holds 11 patents

Born: 1946

Country: USA

Education: Carleton College BA Mathematics 1967; UC Berkeley PhD Genetics 1973; Postdoctoral work UCSF

Martha King

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Billie Jean King

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Louise Kirkbride

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Suzanne Kite

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