Lene Koch facts for kids

Lene Koch, born in 1947, is a Danish researcher and historian. She is known for her work studying women's issues and, later, the science of genetics. She helped start the Centre for Women's Research at the University of Copenhagen and was its head from 1981 to 1985. In the late 1980s, she began to focus on how traits are passed down through families. She also studied how science helps people have children. In 1988, she became the head of Kvinfo, a Danish center for research on women. She later returned to her research on genetics at Copenhagen University until she retired as a professor.

Early Life and Education

Lene Koch was born in Virum, Denmark, on July 31, 1947. Her father, Ole Carl Valdemar Koch, was a library inspector. Her mother was Anna Marie Ludvigsen.

Lene grew up in a home that valued learning. She went to N. Zahle's School. There, she was very interested in science, especially physics and chemistry. In 1967, she finished high school at Øregård Gymnasium. She first studied old languages at the University of Copenhagen. In 1978, she earned her master's degree in English and history. While she was a student in the early 1970s, she was a leader in the Students' Council. This is where she first became interested in studying women's lives and history.

Career and Research

Lene Koch was a key person in getting the University of Copenhagen more interested in women's studies. From 1981 to 1985, she managed the new Centre for Women's Research. At the center, she was very interested in American historians who studied women. She wrote about their ideas in her 1984 book, Hendes egen verden.

In 1986, she received money to research motherhood in Denmark. She looked at how science, like artificial insemination, helped women who could not have children naturally.

In 1988, Lene Koch became the head of Kvinfo. This organization focuses on research about women and gender. While there, she restarted a journal called Forum for kvindeforskning. This journal shared new ideas in women's research.

In 1990, she became a lecturer at Copenhagen University's Panum Institute. Here, she made big contributions to research on how traits are passed down through families. She also studied how doctors check the health of babies before they are born. She wrote many articles on these topics. She led the Health Services Research Department at Copenhagen University until she retired. After retiring, she became a professor emeritus.