Biography

Prominent female American chemist of the 19th century. (1842–1911) She was a pioneer in sanitary engineering and a founder of home economics in the United States. Accepted to Massachusetts Institute of Technology, making her the first woman in America to be accepted by a scientific school. Three years later she received a second bachelor’s degree from MIT and master’s degree from Vassar. Continued at MIT with hopes of earning a doctorate, but MIT was not to award its first doctorate to a woman until 1886.