Mary Letitia Caldwell

Mary Letitia Caldwell (December 18, 1890-July 1, 1972)[1] was an American chemist. Most of her work centered around amylase, a starch enzyme, most notably finding a method for purifying crystalline porcine pancreatic amylase.[1][2]

Caldwell was born in Bogota, Colombia to American missionaries. She earned her bachelor's degree Western College for Women in 1913 and taught at the school until 1918. She earned her M.A. and Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1919 and 1921. She spent the rest of her career teaching at Columbia. She became the only female member of the senior faculty in the chemistry department,[1] becoming the first woman to attain the rank of assistant professor at Columbia.[3] She attained the rank of full professor in 1948.[1]

In 1959 she retired to Fishkill, New York. In 1960, she received the Garvan Medal from the American Chemical Society, an honor awarded annually to a US female chemist.[1][4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Svoronos, Soraya (1993). "Mary Letitia Caldwell". In Grinstein, Louise S.; Rose, Rose K.; Rafailovich, Miriam H.. Women in Chemistry and Physics: A Biobibliographic Sourcebook. Greenwood Press. pp. 72–6. 
  2. ^ "Mary L. Caldwell of Columbia Dies". New York Times: pp. 20. July 3, 1972. 
  3. ^ "Women at Columbia". Columbia University. March 2004. http://c250.columbia.edu/c250_events/symposia/history_women_timeline.html. Retrieved July 7, 2011. 
  4. ^ "Woman in Wheelchair Gets Chemistry Medal". New York Times: pp. 31. April 10, 1960. 

Further readings