Ten Amazing STEM Women and What We Can Learn From Them

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

Ten Amazing STEM Women and What We

Can Learn From Them

Jill S. Tietjen, P.E.

President, National Women’s Hall of Fame

Co-Author, “Her Story: A Timeline of the Women Who Changed

America”


1882

Ellen Henrietta Swallow Richards

#1 Take Advantage of Opportunities

• First woman accepted into the Massachusetts

Institute of Technology (MIT), although as a

“special” student, as the school didn’t want to

admit that any women were enrolled.

Graduated with a degree in chemistry.

• 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.”


1895

#2 Necessity is the Mother of Invention

Harriet Strong

• Left penniless when her husband committed suicide,

with four daughters to raise, Harriet Strong

pioneered water conservation and water storage

techniques for which she received patents

• Called the Walnut Queen, she became one of the

people who helped make California the breadbasket

it is today

• First woman member of the Los Angeles Chamber

of Commerce


1895Mary Engle Pennington

#3 Don’t Let Adversity Stop You

• Denied an earned B.S. because the university didn’t

award degrees for women

• Pennington earned her Ph.D. (which was awarded as

she was an “extraordinary case”)

• Received patents for safe handling of eggs, milk,

poultry, and fish

• Called the Ice Lady because she encouraged vendors in

the markets to put fish on ice to keep it from spoiling

• Developed refrigerated railroad cars to transport food

safely


1931

#4 You Don’t Need to Have 12 Children to Test Your Theories

• One of the founders of the field of

industrial engineering, Lillian and Frank

Gilbreth had 12 children to test their

theories

• A pioneering advocate of career interest

tests

• She did extensive work to make the

kitchen more efficient and to

accommodate individuals with disabilities

Lillian Moller Gilbreth


1943

Admiral Grace Murray Hopper

#5 Ask for Forgiveness, Not Permission

• Invented the computer compiler

• She made it possible for us to have

personal computers, smart phones –

all of the electronics we take for

granted

• She believed it was always easier to ask

for forgiveness – after she did

something – than to ask for

permission before – someone will

always say “no”


1944

Chien-Shiung Wu

#6 Make Lemons Out of Lemonade

• One of the foremost nuclear physicists in the

world, Wu was not awarded the Nobel Prize

for which she provided the experimental proof

• Worked on the Manhattan Project to develop

the nuclear bomb

• Wrote the book on beta decay which is still

the standard for nuclear physicists

• The first living scientist to have an asteroid

named after her


1952

#7 Find a Need and Fill It

Watch Dr. Apgar demonstrate how to perform the Apgar Score:

Dr. Virginia Apgar

• An anesthesiologist, she observed that babies

were not receiving adequate attention at birth

• Developed a 0-10 point score to assess newborn

health at one minute and five minutes after birth

• The Apgar Score – now used worldwide – is

named for her

http://live.wsj.com/video/assigning-an-apgar-score-to-newborns/9B7B09A9-1B12-4C65-92BA-D4C6DFA35BBA.html#!9B7B09A9-1B12-4C65-92BA-D4C6DFA35BBA


1963Maria Goeppert-Mayer

#8 Follow Your Dream

• Although she had a PhD in physics, she

often couldn’t get a job because of nepotism

rules – her husband was hired at universities

as a chemistry professor and they couldn’t

hire her

• Worked on her physics experiments as a

volunteer

• Eventually was hired – worked to develop

the nuclear bomb during World War II

(Manhattan Project)

• Received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1963

(the first American woman)


1988

Gertrude Elion

#9 Be Passionate

• Decided to devote her career to drug

research after watching her beloved

grandfather die a slow and painful

death from cancer

• Wasn’t initially able to get a job

because she was a woman

• Received the 1988 Nobel Prize in

Physiology or Medicine for the first

drug to successfully treat childhood

leukemia


1993

Sheila Widnall

#10 Herding Horses Can be Good Training

• Aeronautical engineer and first

woman to serve as Secretary of the

Air Force

• Said growing up on a ranch in

California and herding horses was

good training for leading the

faculty at the Massachusetts

Institute of Technology (MIT)

• An expert in the field of fluid

dynamics


Ten Amazing STEM Women and What We Can Learn From Them

#10 Herding Horses Can be Good Training

#9 Be Passionate

#8 Follow Your Dream

#7 Find a Need and Fill It

#6 Make Lemons Out of Lemonade

#5 Ask for Forgiveness, Not Permission

#4 You Don’t Need to Have 12 Children to Test Your Theories

#3 Don’t Let Adversity Stop You

#1 Take Advantage of Opportunities#2 Necessity is the Mother of Invention


• All of the women in the presentation

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:

www.herstoryatimeline.com

[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 Fame

Bailey, 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/

Ten Amazing STEM Women and What We Can Learn From Them

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