Mary Letitia Caldwell (December 18, 1890 – July 1, 1972)
was an American chemist. Growing up she valued education and strived to achieve. She was an instructor at Western College teaching chemistry. She was known for being unique and descriptive along with being family orientated. Maria was in a wheel chair due to muscular disability. Most of her work centered on
amylase
An amylase () is an enzyme that catalyses the hydrolysis of starch (Latin ') into sugars. Amylase is present in the saliva of humans and some other mammals, where it begins the chemical process of digestion. Foods that contain large amounts of ...
, a
starch
Starch or amylum is a polymeric carbohydrate consisting of numerous glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by most green plants for energy storage. Worldwide, it is the most common carbohydrate in human diets ...
enzyme
Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as products. A ...
, most notably finding a method for purifying crystalline porcine pancreatic amylase. She spent sixty years doing this.
Early life and education
Caldwell was born in
Bogota, Colombia, to American
missionaries
A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...
. She earned her bachelor's degree from the
Western College for Women
Western College for Women, known at other times as Western Female Seminary, The Western and simply Western College, was a women's and later coed liberal arts college in Oxford, Ohio, between 1855 and 1974. Initially a seminary, it was the host of ...
in 1913 and taught at the school until 1918. She earned her
M.A.
A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...
and
Ph.D.
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
from
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
in 1919 and 1921. She had a progressive muscular disorder which made her reliant on a wheelchair for life. She came from a family of five siblings, all of whom valued higher education. She then became the first woman instructor in the chemistry department at Columbia University. In 1951 she retired from teaching and began her studies in enzymes, specifically amylase.
Career
After graduating from graduate school at Columbia University, Caldwell became the first Chemistry professor at Columbia University from 1948 to 1949.
She became the only female member of the senior faculty in the chemistry department,
becoming the first woman to attain the rank of assistant professor at Columbia. She attained the rank of full professor in 1948.
Caldwell had a progressive muscular disability, and began using a wheelchair by 1960. Despite this, her 9th floor office at her research facility, Chandler Hall, never changed. In 1960 she received the
Garvan Medal from the American Chemical Society, an honor awarded annually to a US female chemist.
During her time as a chemist, Caldwell did research on a type of enzyme called amylase. She spent a lot of her time trying to purify enzymes because she was not satisfied with the commercial material. She attempted to find a more pure form of amylase and she was able to develop a method for isolating crystalline pancreatic enzymes.
Awards and accomplishments
After receiving her M.S. and Ph.D. at Columbia University in 1919 and 1921, respectively, Caldwell was hired as an instructor in 1922. She eventually became the first female professor of chemistry in 1948, and the only female senior faculty member of the Chemistry department at Columbia University at the time.
In 1960, Caldwell was awarded the Garvan Medal by the American Chemistry Society for her research on amylase. The Garvan Medal specifically recognizes women who have made a significant contribution to the field of Chemistry. Caldwell developed a method to isolate crystalline pancreatic enzymes that is now used by laboratories all throughout America and Europe.
References
Further reading
Proceedings of the Thirty-Seventh Annual Meeting of The American Institute of Nutrition*
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caldwell, Mary Letitia
1890 births
1972 deaths
Western College for Women alumni
Columbia University alumni
Columbia University faculty
Recipients of the Garvan–Olin Medal
American women chemists
20th-century American women scientists
20th-century American chemists
American women academics