he for she ten amazing stem women and the men who supported them

Her Story: A Timeline of the Women Who Changed America © 2013

He for She: 10 Amazing STEM Women and the Men Who Supported

Them

Jill S. Tietjen, P.E.President, National Women’s Hall of

FameCo-Author, “Her Story: A Timeline of the

Women Who Changed America”


1757

Jane Colden

• Her father, Cadwallader Colden, was a naturalist who nurtured her interest in botany

• Considered the first woman American botanist

• Classified over 300 species of flora in the Hudson River Valley

• Discovered and named the gardenia

• Her work is housed in the British Museum


1848

Maria Mitchell

• Her father, William Mitchell, was an amateur astronomer who encouraged her interest

• Awarded a gold medal by the King of Denmark when she discovered a comet

• The first woman elected to the American Association for the Advancement of Science

• First female professor at Vassar College – she inspired a generation of women astronomers

• Inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame


1882

Ellen Henrietta Swallow Richards

• Had the full support of her husband, Robert Richards, a professor of mining engineering at MIT

• Credited as the founder of the field of home economics.

• One of the founders of the American Association of University Women.

• Called the “Mother of Ecology.”



1898

Julia Morgan

• Enjoyed the sponsorship of William Randolph Hearst for twenty years

• First woman to study architecture in Paris

• Her many projects for the YWCA include the Asilomar Conference Center in Pacific Grove

• Known as the architect of the “Hearst Castle” in San Simeon, California – today a California State Park


1924

Gladys Dick

• Collaborated with her husband on all of her scarlet fever research

• Proved the cause of scarlet fever

• Published papers on how to prevent, test, diagnose and treat scarlet fever

• Received the patent for the Dick test – a skin test to determine a person’s susceptibility to scarlet fever


1931

Lillian Moller Gilbreth

• Strongly supported by her husband, Frank Gilbreth, who saw that her work was a complement to his. They had 12 children to test their theories of industrial engineering

• A pioneering advocate of career interest tests

• She did extensive work to make the kitchen more efficient and to accommodate individuals with disabilities



1950

Beatrice Hicks

• Received full support from her husband, Rodney D. Chipp

• First president of the Society of Women Engineers

• Recognized by the New Jersey Inventor’s Hall of Fame. She invented the gas density sensor



1974

Becky Schroeder

• Had the support of her father, a patent attorney

• Received her first patent for an illuminated writing board (later called the Glo-sheet) while she was a preteeen

• One of the youngest Americans to have ever received a patent


1977

Rosalyn Yalow

• For over twenty years, collaborated with physician Solomon Berson

• Developed radioimmunoassay, a technique that uses radioactive isotopes to measure small amounts of biological substances

• Received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine



1988

Gertrude Elion

• Worked with biochemist George Herbert Hitchings for her entire career and shared the Nobel Prize with him

• Nobel Prize – 1988 – in Physiology or Medicine

• Developed the first drug to treat childhood leukemia

• Developed an immunosuppressant drug that allows organ transplants



He for She – Steps Men Can Take to Support Women

EncouragementSupportPartnershipSponsorshipCollaborationBe a ChampionAdvocate forNominate for AwardsRecommend for Promotions


• Six of these ten women have been inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame

• Over 850 women, including the ones you’ve just learned about, are in my book

• The book features women from every field of endeavor, including all STEM fields

• These women changed America. They did amazing things and we don’t know about them!

I tell the stories of great women and write women back into

history. I want to hear from you. I would love to come speak to

your organization:[email protected]

http://www.herstoryatimeline.com/

mailto:[email protected]


Sources:

Womenshistory.about.com www.greatwomen.org – The web site of the National Women’s Hall of FameBailey, Martha J. “American Women in Science: A Biographical Dictionary.” ABC-CLIP: Santa Barbara, California, 1994.James, Edward T., Janet Wilson James, Paul S. Boyer, Editors. “Notable American Women 1607-1950: A Biographical Dictionary.” The Belknap Press of Harvard University: Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1971. Macdonald, Anne L. “Feminine Ingenuity: Women and Invention in America.” Ballantine Books: New York, New York, 1992. Profitt, Pamela, Editor. “Notable Women Scientists.” Gale Group: Farmington Hills, Michigan, 1999.

http://www.greatwomen.org/

http://www.greatwomen.org/

he for she ten amazing stem women and the men who supported them

Career