Virginia Kneeland Frantz (November 13, 1896 – August 23, 1967) was a

pathologist Pathology is the study of the causal, causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when us ...

and educator credited with a series of discoveries in the study of

thyroid The thyroid, or thyroid gland, is an endocrine gland in vertebrates. In humans it is in the neck and consists of two connected lobes. The lower two thirds of the lobes are connected by a thin band of tissue called the thyroid isthmus. The thy ...

breast The breast is one of two prominences located on the upper ventral region of a primate's torso. Both females and males develop breasts from the same embryological tissues. In females, it serves as the mammary gland, which produces and secret ...

and pancreatic tumors.

Early life and education

She was born in New York City, the daughter of Yale and Anna Ilsley Ball Kneeland. Frantz graduated from the

Brearley School The Brearley School is an all-girls private school in New York City, located on the Upper East Side neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan. The school is divided into lower (kindergarten – grade 4), middle (grades 5–8) and upper (grades 9 ...

(1914) and

Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh: ) is a women's liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Founded as a Quaker institution in 1885, Bryn Mawr is one of the Seven Sister colleges, a group of elite, historically women's colleges in the United St ...

(1918). She then pursued medical studies at

Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S) is the graduate medical school of Columbia University, located at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. Founded ...

, graduating in 1922. In 1920, she married fellow student Angus Macdonald Frantz. They had three children.

Career highlights

In 1922,

New York Presbyterian Hospital The NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is a nonprofit academic medical center in New York City affiliated with two Ivy League medical schools, Cornell University and Columbia University. The hospital comprises seven distinct campuses located in the New ...

, she became the first woman

surgery Surgery ''cheirourgikē'' (composed of χείρ, "hand", and ἔργον, "work"), via la, chirurgiae, meaning "hand work". is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a person to investigate or treat a pat ...

intern An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time. Once confined to medical graduates, internship is used practice for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and gover ...

. From 1924 to 1962 she taught

at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, becoming a full

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

in 1951. In 1935, she and Allen O. Whipple described the

insulin Insulin (, from Latin ''insula'', 'island') is a peptide hormone produced by beta cells of the pancreatic islets encoded in humans by the ''INS'' gene. It is considered to be the main anabolic hormone of the body. It regulates the metabolism o ...

secretion of pancreatic tumors. In 1959, she wrote a study on tumors of the

pancreas The pancreas is an organ of the digestive system and endocrine system of vertebrates. In humans, it is located in the abdomen behind the stomach and functions as a gland. The pancreas is a mixed or heterocrine gland, i.e. it has both an end ...

which became the standard text in the fieldFranz, V. (1959). Papillary tumors of the pancreas: benign or malignant. Frantz, V.K. Atlas of tumor pathology. Washington DC: US Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, 32-3. In 1961 she became the first female president of the

American Thyroid Association The American Thyroid Association (ATA) is a professional organization of over 1700 medical specialists devoted to thyroid biology and to the prevention and treatment of thyroid disease through excellence in research, clinical care, education, and ...

Awards and honors

*Army-Navy Certificate of Appreciation for Civilian Service, 1948 * Janeway Medal, 1962 *Columbia University, Bicentennial Silver Medal, 1967 *Student of Arthur Purdy Stout, noted alumnae of Brearley School, Columbia named award after her and presented to

Rita Charon Rita Charon (born 1949 in Providence, Rhode Island), is a physician, literary scholar and the founder and executive director of the Program in Narrative Medicine at Columbia University.The Program in Narrative Medicine College of Physicians and ...

*Virginia Kneeland Frantz Society

Select publications

*Franz, V. K., Forsythe, R., Hanford, J. M., & Rogers, W. M. (1942). Lateral aberrant thyroid. Ann. Surg, 115, 161–183. *Franz, M.D., Virginia Kneeland & Harvey, M.D., Harold Doric. (1946). Introduction to Surgery. New York and London: Geoffrey Cumberlege, Oxford University Press. *Franz, V. (1959). Papillary tumors of the pancreas: benign or malignant. Frantz VK. Atlas of tumor pathology. Washington DC: US Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, 32–3.

References

External links

Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frantz, Virginia Kneeland American pathologists 1896 births 1967 deaths Women pathologists NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital physicians Columbia University faculty 20th-century American women scientists 20th-century American scientists Bryn Mawr College alumni Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons alumni Brearley School alumni Scientists from New York (state) American women academics