Timeline of women in science in the United States facts for kids

This article is a timeline showing important moments for women in science in the United States. It highlights amazing women who made big discoveries and broke barriers in fields like astronomy, geology, medicine, and computer science. Get ready to learn about their incredible achievements!

Pioneering Women in 19th Century Science

• 1848: Maria Mitchell became the first woman chosen to join the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She had discovered a new comet the year before.
• 1853: Jane Colden was the only female biologist mentioned by Carl Linnaeus in his famous book Species Plantarum.
• 1889: Mary Emilie Holmes became the first female Fellow of the Geological Society of America. This was a big step for women in geology.
• 1889: Susan La Flesche Picotte became the first Native American woman to become a doctor in the United States.
• 1893: Florence Bascom was the second woman to earn her Ph.D. in geology in the U.S. She was also the first woman to get a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University. Many geologists see her as the "first woman geologist in this country."
• 1896: Florence Bascom made history again by becoming the first woman to work for the United States Geological Survey.

Breaking Barriers in 20th Century Science

• 1901: Florence Bascom continued her pioneering work. She became the first female geologist to present a paper to the Geological Survey of Washington.
• 1903: Marie Curie became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, which was in Physics. She later won another Nobel Prize in Chemistry. She did important research on radioactivity and found two new elements: polonium and radium.
• 1912: Henrietta Swan Leavitt studied how bright certain stars (called Cepheid stars) appeared over time. She then found a way to figure out how far away these stars were from Earth.
• 1924: Florence Bascom was elected to the Council of the Geological Society of America. She was the first woman to achieve this.
• 1925: Florence Sabin became the first woman elected to the National Academy of Sciences. This is a very respected group of scientists.
• 1928: Alice Evans became the first woman president of the Society of American Bacteriologists.
• 1936: Edith Patch became the first female president of the Entomological Society of America. This group studies insects.

1940s: New Achievements for Women in Science

• 1942: American geologist Marguerite Williams became the first African-American woman to get a PhD in geology in the United States. Her doctorate focused on the history of erosion in the Anacostia Drainage Basin.
• 1947: Gerty Cori became the first woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. She won it for her discovery about how the body uses glycogen.
• 1947: Marie Maynard Daly became the first Black woman in the U.S. to earn a Ph.D. in chemistry. Her research helped us understand how cholesterol can block arteries, showing how diet affects heart health.
• 1949: Dorothy Vaughan became the first African-American woman to lead a group of staff at the Langley Research Center, a NASA center.

1950s: Groundbreaking Discoveries

• 1950: Isabella Abbott became the first Native Hawaiian woman to receive a PhD in any science. Her degree was in botany, the study of plants.
• 1950: Esther Lederberg was the first to find lambda bacteriophage. This is a type of DNA virus.
• 1952: Grace Hopper finished what is thought to be the first compiler. This program lets computer users use English-like words instead of just numbers.
• 1956: The Wu experiment was a nuclear physics experiment. It was led by physicist Chien-Shiung Wu, who was born in China but became an American citizen. The experiment showed important new facts about how particles interact.

1960s: Women in Space and Physics

• 1960: Rosalyn Yalow received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. She won for developing a way to measure tiny amounts of substances in the body.
• 1962: Katherine Johnson did the math for a NASA mission. Her calculations helped launch John Glenn into orbit as the first American in space and bring him back safely.
• 1963: Maria Goeppert Mayer became the first American woman to receive a Nobel Prize in Physics. She shared the prize for her discoveries about how atomic nuclei are structured.
• 1965: Sister Mary Kenneth Keller became the first American woman to earn a Ph.D. in Computer Science.

1970s: Leading Scientific Societies

• 1975: Chien-Shiung Wu, who became an American citizen in 1954, became the first female president of the American Physical Society.
• 1976: Margaret Burbidge, born in England, was named the first female president of the American Astronomical Society.
• 1977: Rosalyn Yalow received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for developing radioimmunoassays. These tests help measure hormones in the body.
• 1978: Anna Jane Harrison became the first female president of the American Chemical Society.
• 1978: Mildred Cohn served as the first female president of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

1980s: Medical and Space Firsts

• 1982: Nephrologist Leah Lowenstein became the first woman dean of a medical school in the United States that taught both male and female students.
• 1983: Barbara McClintock received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. She won for her discovery of "jumping genes." She was the first woman to win this prize by herself.
• 1984: Kathryn D. Sullivan became the first American woman to walk in space.
• 1988: Patricia Bath was the first African American woman to get a medical patent. This was for her invention of a laser treatment for cataracts.
• 1988: Gertrude B. Elion received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. She won for her discoveries about how to develop new medicines.

1990s: More Firsts in Leadership and Space

• 1990: Antonia Novello became the first woman, first person of color, and first Hispanic to serve as Surgeon General of the United States.
• 1991: Doris Malkin Curtis became the first woman president of the Geological Society of America.
• 1992: Edith M. Flanigen became the first woman to receive the Perkin Medal. This is a top award in American industrial chemistry. She was recognized for creating new materials.
• 1992: Mae Jemison became the first Black woman to travel into space. She served as a mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour.
• 1993: Ellen Ochoa became the first Hispanic woman to go to space. She served aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery.
• 1998: Nurse Fannie Gaston-Johansson became the first African-American woman to become a full professor with job security at Johns Hopkins University.
• 1998: Rita R. Colwell became the first female director of the National Science Foundation.

21st Century: Continuing the Legacy

2000s: Nobel Laureates

• 2004: Linda B. Buck received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. She won for her discoveries about how we smell.
• 2009: Carol W. Greider received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. She won for discovering how chromosomes are protected.

2010s: New Leadership and Awards

• 2010: Marcia McNutt became the first female director of the United States Geological Survey.
• 2016: Marcia McNutt became the first woman president of the American National Academy of Sciences.
• 2018: Frances Arnold received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. She won for developing new ways to create enzymes. This made her the first American woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
• 2019: Karen Uhlenbeck won the Abel Prize. This is a major award in mathematics. She was the first woman to win this prize.

2020s: Exploring New Depths

• 2020: Kathryn D. Sullivan, who was the first American woman to walk in space, also went down to the Challenger Deep. This is the deepest known point in the ocean. This made her the first person to both walk in space and reach the deepest part of the ocean.