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compiled and edited by Mark Frazier Lloyd
July 2001
text-only version available
in one file (302 kb)
More on Women at Penn
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1951-1968
Men's and women's activities at Penn begin
to merge, while a few women faculty members gain tenure and advancement
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1951 |
In the Fall semester, seventy-five years after Anna Flanigen and
Gertrude Pierce enrolled in Chemistry classes, a total of 4,234
women were enrolled in 24 different academic programs. The majority
of women students (2,273 or 53.68%) continued to attend classes
on a part time basis, but the number enrolled in courses leading
to degrees had increased substantially (2,441 or 57.65%). The College
for Women, offering its undergraduate liberal arts degree, had clearly
met a real need at Penn. With 695 full time students, the College
enjoyed an enrollment of women more than twice that of any other
undergraduate school. 326 women were enrolled in the undergraduate
programs of the School of Education; 174 in those of the School
of Nursing; 83 in the School of Allied Medical Professions; 50 in
the School of Fine Arts; and 19 in the College Collateral Courses.
Among the graduate and professional schools, 99 full time women
students were enrolled in the School of Social Work, more than twice
the number enrolled in any other professional degree program. 43
women were enrolled in the graduate, professional-degree programs
of the School of Education; 21 in the School of Medicine; 16 in
the Graduate School of Medicine; 15 in the Law School; 12 in the
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences; and six in the Wharton School.
868 women students were enrolled in part time courses leading
to degrees: 253 were working toward masters and doctoral degrees
in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences; 230 in the School of
Education; 74 in the School of Social Work; nine in the Wharton
School, and four in the School of Fine Arts. 179 women were enrolled
in part time classes leading to an undergraduate degree in the School
of Nursing; 41 in the College Collateral Courses; 34 in the School
of Education; 29 in the School of Allied Medical Professions; and
12 in the School of Fine Arts.
1,793 women students were enrolled in courses that did not lead
to a degree: 388 full time students in the HUP School of Nursing;
797 part time students in the College Collateral Courses; 346 students
in the Extension schools of Nursing, Wharton, and Education; 187
in the Wharton Evening School; and 75 in the Oral Hygiene program
of the School of Dental Medicine.
Women had also made major advances in the ranks of the faculty.
Women had won appointments to the standing faculty in thirteen of
the fifteen schools of the University. Only the faculties of Law
and Engineering had failed to appoint or promote a woman to the
rank of Assistant Professor or higher. Women held tenured faculty
positions in nine of the fifteen - the School of Medicine, the Wharton
School, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the School of
Education, the School of Fine Arts, the College of Liberal Arts
for Women, and the schools of Social Work, Allied Medical Professions,
and Nursing - and women held full or senior professorships in seven
of those nine (Dr. Florence B. Seibert would not become Professor
of Biochemistry in the School of Medicine until 1955 and no woman
would hold a senior professorship in the School of Fine Arts until
1958).
At the Commencement held on 10 February, the University awarded
the degree of Bachelor of Science in Nursing Education to twenty-eight
graduates of the School of Nursing. These were the first women to
earn the B.S.in N.Ed. degree at Penn.
At the Commencement held on 13 June, the University awarded the
degree of Doctor of Social Work to Anita J. Faatz, Goldie Basch
Faith, Elizabeth Alston Lawder, and Rosa Wessel. They were the first
women to earn the D.S.W. degree at Penn.
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1952 |
At the Commencement held on 18 June, the University awarded the
School of Allied Medical Profession's degree of Bachelor of Science
in Occupational Therapy to Josephine Cohen, Marie Antoinette Robbins,
and Thelma M. Thoms. They were the first women to earn the B.S.
in O.T. degree at Penn.
203 years after Benjamin Franklin organized the first Trustees
and twenty-five years after the Trustees were divided into three
classes - Life, Term, and Alumni Trustees - Katharine Elizabeth
McBride was elected one of the Term Trustees of the University.
Dr. McBride had succeeded Marion Edward Park as President of Bryn
Mawr College in 1942; had been awarded Penn's honorary degree of
Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) that same year; and had also been elected
an Associate Trustee of the University, serving as a member of the
Trustees' Board of Graduate Education and Research. She was the
first woman elected a Trustee of the University. In June she was
elected a Term Trustee, to serve for ten years. Less than a year
later, in May 1953 she was elected by her fellow Trustees to the
Executive Committee of the Trustees. She was the first woman to
serve the University as a member of the Executive Committee of the
Trustees. In 1962, when her ten-year term expired, Dr. McBride was
re-elected a Term Trustee. She served as a Term Trustee another
four years, until her resignation in 1966.
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1953 |
The College of Arts and Sciences
and the College of Liberal Arts for Women merged their yearbooks into
a single volume and the title page of The 101st Record
boldly announced that it was "published by the coeducational
undergraduates of the University of Pennsylvania."
At the Commencement held on 10 June, the University awarded the
School of Allied Medical Profession's degree of Bachelor of Science
in Physical Therapy to Martha Bodine. She was the first woman to
earn the B.S. in P.T. degree at Penn.
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1954 |
In February, the University
announced that in the fall semester, for the first time, women would
be admitted to the undergraduate programs of the School of Engineering
and Applied Science and the Wharton School. These programs had been
the last at Penn to exclude women. In September, fifteen undergraduate
women enrolled in the Wharton School, nine of whom earned the degree
of Bachelor of Science in Economics (B.S. in Econ.) by June 1958.
Barbara G. Mandell was the first woman to enroll in the School of
Engineering and Applied Science.
In March, the University appointed Dwight B. McNair Scott, M.D.,
to the faculty position of Assistant Professor of Physiological
Chemistry in Medicine, in the School of Medicine, effective retroactively
to 1 January 1954. In July 1956, Dr. Scott, a woman, was reappointed
and her title changed to Assistant Professor of Biochemistry in
Physiology.
Also in March, the University appointed Catherine C.L. Bacon,
M.D., to the faculty position of Associate Professor of Psychiatry
in the Graduate School of Medicine, effective retroactively to 25
January 1954. In July 1955 the University promoted her within the
School of Medicine (not the Graduate School of Medicine) to the
faculty position of Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry.
The Wharton School appointed Jean Andrus Crockett, B.A., M.A.,
Ph.D., to the faculty position of Assistant Professor of Finance.
She was the first woman to join the standing faculty of the Wharton
School in one of its departments of business education. In 1959
the Wharton School promoted her to Associate Professor of Finance
and in 1965 to full Professor of Finance. She was the first woman
to earn tenure and the first woman to hold a senior professorship
in one of the departments of business education at the Wharton School.
In October, the Trustees elected the first woman Trustee, Katharine
Elizabeth McBride, the first Chair of the Advisory Board of Teacher
Education and Practice. She was both the first woman member of the
Board and the first woman Chair. At the same October meeting, the
Trustees elected Helen Cheyney Bailey (B.S. in Ed., 1919) an Associate
Trustee of the University with membership on the Advisory Board
of Teacher Education and Practice. She was the only woman among
the Associate Trustees elected to the first Advisory Board of Teacher
Education and Practice.
In December, the Trustees elected Lucile Petry Leone an Associate
Trustee of the University with membership on the Advisory Board
of Medical Education and Research. She was the first woman with
oversight responsibilities for the schools of Dental Medicine, Medicine,
and Veterinary Medicine.
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1955 |
In March, the University appointed
Rachel Ash, M.D., to the faculty position of Associate Professor of
Cardiology in Pediatrics in the Graduate School of Medicine.
In May, the University appointed Neva Abelson, M.D., to the faculty
position of Associate Professor of Pediatrics in the School of Medicine.
At the Commencement held on 15 June, the University awarded the
School of Fine Arts' degree of Master of City Planning to Janet
Ruth Scheff. She was the first woman to earn the M.C.P. degree at
Penn.
In October, the Trustees elected Mary Todhunter (Clark) Rockefeller
("Mrs. Nelson A. Rockefeller") an Associate Trustee with
membership on the Advisory Board of Medical Education and Research.
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1956 |
At the Commencement held on
11 February, the University awarded the School of Allied Medical Professions'
degree of Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology to Nancy Newlin.
She was the first woman and the first person to earn the B.S. in M.T.
degree at Penn.
At the Commencement held on 13 June, the University awarded the
Wharton School's undergraduate business degree, the Bachelor of
Science in Economics, to Carole M. Berman. She was the first woman
to earn the B.S. in Econ. degree at Penn.
Also at the Commencement of June 1956, the University awarded
the degree of Master of Laws to Paula Rudy Markowitz. She was the
first woman to earn the LL.M. degree at Penn.
In October, the University promoted Elizabeth Farquhar Flower
from the faculty position of Assistant Professor of Philosophy in
the College of Arts and Sciences to that of Associate Professor,
effective retroactively as of 1 July 1956. She was the first woman
to earn tenure in the College of Arts and Sciences.
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1957 |
At the Commencement held on
12 June, the University awarded the School of Allied Medical Professions'
degree of Bachelor of Science in Oral Hygiene to Marilyn Smith Hipple.
She was the first woman and the first person to earn the B.S. in O.H.
degree at Penn.
Academic year 1957-58 was the final year in which the University
published an independent Bulletin for the College of Liberal Arts
for Women containing "detailed information concerning the admission
requirements and courses" in that the College. The list of
Officers of Instruction in the College for Women included only eight
women in the 170-member, standing faculty: Dorothy Swaine Thomas,
Professor of Sociology in the Wharton School; Hildegarde J. Farquhar,
Associate Professor of Physical Education; Elizabeth Farquhar Flower,
Associate Professor of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences;
Joyce Michell, Associate Professor of Music; Eleanor S. Boll, Assistant
Professor of Sociology; Elizabeth R. Burdick, Assistant Professor
of Physical Education; Mildred L. Sylvester, Assistant Professor
of Psychology; and Malvena Taiz, Assistant Professor of Physical
Education. Only two of the eight - Associate Professor Flower and
Assistant Professor Sylvester - held their primary appointments
in the College of Arts and Sciences [for Men]. In addition, there
were four women not members of the standing faculty, including the
two senior academic administrators: R. Jean Brownlee, Vice-Dean
and Associate in Political Science; Virginia Kinsman Henderson,
Lecturer in Marriage Relations; Althea Kratz Hottel, Dean of Women
and Lecturer in Sociology; and Elizabeth B. Hurlock, Associate in
Psychology.
The School of Engineering and Applied Science appointed [Clara
Johanne] Doris Kuhlmann-Wilsdorf, B.S., M.S., Ph.D., a mechanical
metallurgist, to the faculty position of Research Associate Professor
of Metallurgical Engineering (the present-day department of Materials
Science and Engineering), effective 1 July. She was the first woman
to join the standing faculty of the School of Engineering and Applied
Science. In 1960 the School reappointed her and changed her title
to Associate Professor of Metallurgy. She was therefore the first
woman to earn tenure in the School of Engineering and Applied Science.
Just one year later, in July 1961, the School promoted her to Professor
of Metallurgical Engineering. She was therefore the first woman
to hold a senior professorship at the School of Engineering and
Applied Science. In 1963, however, Professor Kuhlmann-Wilsdorf left
Penn to accept an appointment as Professor of Engineering Physics
at the University of Virginia. There she flourished, eventually
being promoted to University Professor of Applied Science. In 1994
she was honored by election to the National Academy of Engineering,
with membership in the Materials Engineering section of the Academy.
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1958 |
The University appointed Ruth
Elizabeth Smalley to the academic administrator position of Dean of
the School of Social Work. She was the first woman to be appointed
Dean of that School and the second woman to be named an academic dean
at Penn.
The School of Fine Arts promoted Stanislawa Nowicki, M. Arch.,
from the faculty rank of Associate Professor to that of Professor
of Architecture. She was the first woman to hold a senior professorship
at the School of Fine Arts.
At the Commencement held on 8 February, the University awarded
the degree of Master of Landscape Architecture to Marilyn Harriet
Johnson. She was the first woman to earn the M. L. Arch. degree
at Penn.
At the Commencement held on 11 June, the University awarded the
degree of Bachelor of City Planning to Alice Bernice Kalman and
Carolyn Joan Sehl. They were the first women to earn the B.C.P.
degree at Penn.
Academic year 1958-59 was the first year in which the University
published a combined Bulletin for all undergraduate programs of
study at Penn. It took the title Undergraduate Catalogue and included
the College of Arts and Sciences [for men], the College of Liberal
Arts for Women, the five Engineering Schools (Chemical Engineering,
Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering,
and Metallurgical Engineering), the Wharton School, the School of
Education, the School of Fine Arts, the School of Nursing, and the
School of Allied Medical Professions.
In the academic year 1958-59, the following women held appointments
in the standing faculty of the several undergraduate programs of
study at Penn:
In the College of Arts and Sciences:
Madeleine M. Joullie, Associate in Chemistry; Malvena Taiz, Associate
Professor of Dance and Assistant Professor of Physical Education;
Jenneatte P. Nichols, Associate Professor of History; Stella Kramrisch,
Professor of the History of Art, Professor of Oriental Studies and
Professor of South Asia Regional Studies; Charlotte Epstein, Professor
of Human Relations; Virginia K. Henderson, Lecturer in Marriage;
Joyce Michell, Associate Professor of Music; Elizabeth F. Flower,
Associate Professor of Philosophy; Hildegarde J. Farquhar, Associate
Professor of Physical Education; Elizabeth R. Burdick, Assistant
Professor of Physical Education; Doris K. Welsh, Assistant Professor
of Physical Education; Elizabeth K. Ralph, Associate in Physics;
Anna A. Pirscenok, Instructor in Slavic Languages and Literature;
and Dorothy M. Spencer, Lecturer in South Asia Regional Studies.
In the five Engineering Schools:
[Clara Johanne] Doris Wilsdorf, B.B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Materials
Science, all three degrees awarded by the University of Gottingen,
and D.Sc., University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South
Africa, 1954, was an Associate Professor of Metallurgical Engineering
in the School of Engineering and Applied Science. Her research was
in the area of solid state physics. She was promoted to full Professor
in the 1960-61 academic year. In later years she became University
Professor of Applied Science in the Department of Materials Science
and Engineering at the University of Virginia.
In the Wharton School:
R. Jean Brownlee, Associate in Political Science; Dorothy Swaine
Thomas, Professor of Sociology; Eleanor S. Boll, Assistant Professor
of Sociology; Althea K. Hottel, Lecturer in Sociology; and Nancy
L. Schnerr, Lecturer in Statistics.
In the School of Education:
Mary E. Coleman, Associate Professor of Education; Helen Huus,
Associate Professor of Education; Eleanor Dillinger, Assistant Professor
of Education; Helen E. Martin, Assistant Professor of Education;
Jean Straub, Assistant Professor of Education; Mary M. Lang, Lecturer
in Education; Mabel L. Price, Lecturer in Education; Alice K. Watson,
Lecturer in Education; and Margaret F. Willson, Lecturer in Education.
In the School of Fine Arts:
Stanislawa Nowicki, Professor of Architecture and Professor of
Fine Arts;
In the School of Nursing:
Theresa I. Lynch, Professor of Nursing and Dean of the School;
Adaline chase, Associate Professor of Nursing; Mary E. Beam, Assistant
Professor of Nursing; Geraldine L. Ellis, Assistant Professor of
Nursing; Marth A. Hunscher, Assistant Professor of Nursing; Casmira
A. Marciniszyn, Assistant Professor of Nursing; Dorothy R. Marlow,
Assistant Professor of Nursing; and Mary D. Shanks, Assistant Professor
of Nursing.
In the School of Allied Medical Professions:
Harriet M. Boyd, Assistant Professor of Medical Technology and
Director of the Division of Medical Technology; Cornelie A.J. Goldberg,
Instructor in Medical Technology; Virginia L. Yonan, Instructor
in Medical Technology; Helen S. Willard, Professor of Occupational
Therapy; Clare S. Spackman, Associate Professor of Occupational
Therapy; Virginia W. Cute, Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy;
Dorothy E. Baethke, Professor of Physical Therapy; Stella Y. Botelho,
Associate Professor of Physical Therapy; Eleanor J. Carlin, Associate
Professor of Physical Therapy; and Rheta A. Weidenbacker, Associate
in Physical Therapy.
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1959 |
In May, Barbara Ann Foster (B.S. in Ed., 1959) was the first recipient
of the Althea Kratz Hottel Award. Earlier that spring the University
established the Hottel Award as the first women's senior class leadership
award. The Hottel Award continues to the present time and honors
"intellectual competence, commitment to ideals and principles,
and loyalty to the University of Pennsylvania."
At the suggestion of Dean Theresa I. Lynch, President Gaylord P.
Harnwell established the Advisory Council of the School of Nursing.
The Advisory Council was not an Advisory Board of the Trustees,
but an oversight board that existed at the pleasure of the Dean
and the President. Its purpose was to "provide such assistance
and advice to the officers of the School of Nursing as may be requested
from time to time." President Harnwell appointed Ella (Read)
Brewster (1898-1998) Chair of the Advisory Council. She was the
first woman to chair an oversight committee of the School of Nursing.
At the Commencement held on 10 June, the University awarded the
degree of Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering to Marcia
Marie Ferris. She was the first woman to earn the B.S. in E.E. degree
at Penn.
In June, after twenty-three years as a senior administrative officer
at Penn, Althea Kratz Hottel retired from the position of Dean
of Women. In recognition of her leadership among women at Penn,
the University established the first modern women's senior class
leadership award (see first entry in 1959 above).
In July, the University appointed Stella Kramrisch, Ph.D. (Hon.
LL.D., 1981), to the senior faculty position of Professor of South
Asian Art in the Department of South Asia Regional Studies in the
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. She had previously held the
faculty position of Visiting Research Professor of Oriental Studies
in the Graduate School, a five-year appointment, effective from
July 1954 through June 1959, and supported throughout that period
by the Bollingen Foundation.
In August, the University announced the appointment of Laura A.
Bornholdt, B.A., M.A., Ph.D., to the senior administrative position
of Dean of Women. Prior to accepting her appointment at Penn, Dr.
Bornholdt had served as Dean of Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville,
New York. She had earned the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Master
of Arts at Smith College, where she had won election to Phi Beta
Kappa, the national honorary society for scholastic excellence.
She had earned the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History at
Yale University. Her appointment at Penn included a lectureship
in Penn's Department of History. Dr. Bornholdt was appointed to
succeed Althea Kratz Hottel, who had retired in June.
In October, the Trustees elected Althea Kratz Hottel a Term Trustees
of the University. She had retired from the position of Dean of
Women just four months earlier, but volunteered to continue as the
head of the fundraising campaign for the new women's residence hall.
She was the second woman to serve as a Term Trustee. She was re-elected
a Term Trustee in 1964 and served until the expiration of her second
term in 1969.
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1960 |
In February, the University
appointed Rebecca Jean Brownlee (B.S. in Ed., 1934; M.A., 1936; Ph.D.
in Political Science, 1940) to the academic administrator position
of Dean of the College of Liberal Arts for Women. She was the first
woman to be appointed Dean of that College and the third woman to
be named an academic dean at Penn. It should be noted, however, that
Dean Brownlee did not hold the customary authority and standing traditionally
accorded the office of an academic Dean. Perhaps this was due to the
unique organization of the College for Women, which, as stated in
the 1960-61 Undergraduate Catalogue, "maintain[ed] no separate
faculty but dr[ew] upon the faculties of other schools of the University
for its instructional staff." This may explain why the appointment
of Dr. Brownlee to the position of Dean was not accompanied by an
academic appointment. In May 1959, the University had promoted her
to Assistant Professor of Political Science in the Wharton School,
but she was the only academic dean at Penn not to be a tenured member
of the faculty.
In May, the Trustees elected Lillian G. Burns, B.A., M.A., to the
senior administrative position of Assistant Secretary of the University.
Prior to her election as Assistant Secretary, Ms. Burns had served
in a series of increasingly responsible administrative positions
at Penn. She was first employed in 1950 as an assistant to the Dean
of Women in charge of women's residences. She advanced, in succession,
to Assistant Dean of Women, Assistant to the Business Vice President,
and Assistant to the Secretary of the University. In 1959, at the
founding of the West Philadelphia Corporation, University President
Gaylord P. Harnwell was elected President of the Corporation and
Lillian G. Burns was elected Secretary. She was re-elected Secretary
in every subsequent year until her departure from Penn in 1969.
In October 1968, she was also elected a Director of the West Philadelphia
Corporation. In her work with the West Philadelphia Corporation,
Lillian Burns was fully engaged in the acquisition of land for the
University City Science Center. In October 1962, President Harnwell
announced the appointment of Ms. Burns to the position of Associate
Planning Coordinator in the Office of the President. In January
1965, President Harnwell announced the promotion of Ms. Burns to
the position of Coordinator of Planning for the University. In September
1969, shortly after the retirement of President Harnwell, Lillian
Burns left Penn to become Administrator of the American Cities Corporation
in Columbia, Maryland. In the years beginning in 1960 and continuing
through 1969, Ms. Burns was the highest ranking woman administrative
officer in the central administration of the University.
At the Commencement held on 15 June, the University awarded the
degree of Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering to Leona Frances
Wirt. She was the first woman to earn the B.S. in Ch.E. degree at
Penn.
Also at the Commencement of June 1960, the University awarded
the Annenberg School's degree of Master of Arts in Communications
to Susan Barrett Atwood. She was the first woman to earn the M.A.
in Comm. at Penn and the only woman in the first graduating class
of the Annenberg School.
In November the University opened the new Women's Residence Hall
at the northeast corner of Thirty-Fourth and Walnut Streets. It
was the first building at Penn designed and constructed exclusively
for women students. (The Women's Residence Hall was re-named Hill
House in 1965).
Also in November, Wellesley College, in Wellesley, Massachusetts,
announced the appointment of Laura Bornholdt as Dean of its College
and Professor of History, effective July 1961. Dr. Bornholdt served
as Dean of Women at Penn from September 1959 to June 1961.
Also in November, the Graduate School of Medicine promoted Helena
Emma Riggs (A.B. 1921, M.D. 1925) from Assistant Professor of Pathology
to Professor of Neuropathology in the Department of Pathology. In
1950, she had been the second woman to join the standing faculty
in the Graduate School of Medicine. Now she was the first woman
to earn tenure in the Graduate School of Medicine and the first
to hold a senior professorship in that School.
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1961 |
In January, the University conducted formal dedicatory ceremonies
at the Women's Residence Hall. Funding for the $4 million building
came principally from the Federal Housing and Home Finance Agency,
but the interior design and furnishings were greatly enhanced by
the generosity of alumnae and other friends of the University. Althea
K. Hottel, Trustee of the University and former Dean of Women, was
Chair of the Residence Campaign and Dedication Ceremony. Rheva H.
Shryock was President of the Association of Alumnae. Mrs. Shryock
presented citations of honorary membership in the Association to
Mrs. William S. Peace and Mrs. W.H. Biester, Jr., who had served
as Co-Chairs of the Committee for Philadelphia House. These were
the non-alumnae friends of the University who contributed funds
to the Women's Residence Hall. President Harnwell presented the
key to the new Residence to Kathryn Gray, who was President of the
Women Students Government Association, who, in turn, presented
it to Martha Taylor, who was President of the Residents Student
Council.
Philadelphia House was named for eleven famous Philadelphia women
of the past. The eleven women were:
- Hannah Callowhill Penn, second wife of William Penn, for her
service to her country
- Sarah Franklin Bache, daughter of Benjamin Franklin
- Rebecca Gratz (1781-1869), community service
- Sarah Josepha (Buell) Hale (1788-1879), journalism
- Lucretia Coffin Mott (1793-1880), humanitarian service
- Mary Cassatt (1844-1926), art
- Agnes Repplier (1855-1950) (Hon. Litt.D., 1902), literature.
- Lucy Langdon Williams Wilson (1864-1937), author on and teacher
of elementary education
- Mary Engle Pennington (Ph.D. in Chemistry, 1895), science (in
1908 she became the first head of the new Food Research Laboratory
established as a result of the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906)
- Frances Wister, cultural services
- Virginia Margaret Alexander (B.S. in Ed., 1920), medicine.
The alumnae of the University contributed the second house. It
was named Alumnae House and included a formal lounge, which the
Association of Alumnae named the Althea Kratz Hottel Lounge. The
third house was named for Frances Holwell, the first woman to direct
the 18th century Charity School of the University. The fourth was
named for Carrie Burnham Kilgore (LL.B., 1883), the first woman
graduate of the Law School of the University.
Finally, four activity rooms in the Women's Residence Hall were
named in honor of alumnae:
- Mary Alice Bennett (Ph.D., 1880), first woman to earn a degree
at Penn
- Caroline B. Kilgore (LL.B., 1883), first woman graduate of the
Law School
- Pauline Wolcott Spencer (A.B., 1908; A.M. in Latin, Sociology,
and Psychology, 1910; Ph.D. in Sociology, 1915), first woman to
earn the Bachelor of Arts degree at Penn and in 1912, the first
President of the Association of Alumnae
- Sara Yorke Stevenson (Hon. Sc.D., 1894), founder of the University
Museum and first woman recipient of an honorary degree at Penn.
The Women's Residence Hall was a celebration of all the achievements
of women at Penn from 1753 to 1961. It was intended to be the new
center for women's student life at Penn.
At the Commencement held on 5 June, the University awarded the
degree of Bachelor of Science in Chemistry to Phyllis Paula Fine.
She was the first woman to earn the B.S. in Ch. degree at Penn.
In July, the University announced the appointment of Constance
P. Dent, B.A., M.A., Ph.D., to the senior administrative position
of Dean of Women. Prior to accepting her appointment at Penn, Dr.
Dent was Dean of Women and Associate Professor at Glassboro State
College in Glassboro, New Jersey. She earned the degree of Bachelor
of Arts in psychology and biology at Bucknell University in 1945;
the degree of Master of Arts in psychology from Temple University
in 1951; and the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in clinical psychology
from Pennsylvania State University in 1958. She had completed her
Ph.D. with the assistance of a fellowship awarded her by the American
Association of University Women. Althea Kratz Hottel had participated
in the award of the fellowship and thought highly of Dr. Dent. In
December, the Trustees of Bucknell University elected Dr. Dent a
fellow Trustee of the University. Dr. Dent served as Dean of Women
at Penn from July 1961 through June 1966, when she accepted an appointment
of Professor of Psychology at Kutztown State College (now Kutztown
University).
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1962 |
Sharon Lee Ribner, College for
Women, Class of 1964, was the first woman to join the staff of the
men's student newspaper, the Daily Pennsylvanian. She was a member
of the Junior Board in 1962-63 and the Senior Board in 1963-64.
At the Commencement held on 21 May, the University awarded the
degree of Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering to Mary
Jane Orloski. She was the first woman to earn the B.S. in M.E. degree
at Penn.
Also at the Commencement of May 1962, the University awarded the
degree of Bachelor of Architectural Engineering to Elizabeth M.
Boggs. She was the first woman to earn the B. Arch. Eng. degree
at Penn.
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1963 |
The School of Veterinary Medicine
promoted Monica Reynolds, B.S., A.B., Ph.D., from Assistant Professor
of Physiology to Associate Professor of Physiology in the Department
of Animal Biology. She was the first woman to earn tenure in the School
of Veterinary Medicine. In 1969 she was promoted to Professor of Physiology,
the first woman to hold a senior professorship in the School of Veterinary
Medicine.
At the Commencement held on 20 May, the University awarded the
degree of Master of Science in Engineering to Judith Ann Maestrelli.
She was the first woman to earn the M.S.E. degree at Penn.
Also at the Commencement of May 1963, the University awarded the
degree of Master of Science in Nursing to twenty-eight women. These
graduates were the first women to earn the M.S.N. degree at Penn.
Also in May, the Trustees appointed a woman Trustee, Katharine
Elizabeth McBride, to the first Joint Committee of the Annenberg
School of Communications and the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania.
The purpose of this decision-making, executive committee of the
Annenberg School was to "discharge the responsibility of the
Trustees of the University in the joint operation and control of
the educational program." Dr. McBride was the first woman member
of the Joint Committee.
In July, the University established the Pennsylvania Program of
Continuing Education for Women, which was designed to attract "women
beyond college age who have the will and capacity for further study."
The program was made possible in its first two years by the Carnegie
Corporation of New York, which funded it through substantial grants
to the College of Liberal Arts for Women. Virginia Kinsman Henderson
(B.S. in Ed., 1930; M.A. in Psychology, 1936) was appointed the
first Director of Continuing Education. The first women to enroll
in the program began classes in September.
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1964 |
The University announced the
merger of the faculties of the School of Medicine and Graduate School
of Medicine in a single faculty. The Graduate School of Medicine became
the Division of Graduate Medicine of the School of Medicine. The dental
courses in basic sciences formerly offered in the School of Medicine,
Division of Graduate Medicine, were transferred to the School of Dental
Medicine, where they and their faculty became the Division of Advanced
Dental Education. The medical and veterinary courses in basic sciences
were transferred to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. The
Division of Graduate Medicine in the School of Medicine offered the
degrees of Master of Science in medical, dental, and veterinary clinical
specialties. It also continued to offer the Doctor of Science in the
clinical specialties of all three disciplines. Within the Division,
the Department of Preventive Medicine continued to offer advanced
degrees in public health, both the Master of Medical Science and Doctor
of Medical Science.
At the time of the merger of the School of Medicine with the Graduate
School of Medicine, the following women held appointments in the
standing faculty of the Graduate School:
In the Basic Medical Sciences:
Helena Emma Riggs (A.B., 1921; M.D., 1925), Professor of Neuropathology
(Instructor, 1929-31; Associate, 1931-35 and 1948-50; Assistant
Professor, 1950-60; Professor, 1960-68);
Marilyn E. Hess, B.S. (M.S., 1949; Ph.D. in Pharmacology, 1957),
Assistant Professor of Pharmacology (Instructor, 1957-60; Associate,
1960-62; Assistant Professor, 1962-68; Associate Professor, 1968-76;
full Professor, 1976-; Lindback Award, 1989);
Nallanna Lakshminarayanaiah, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Pharmacology;
Associate Professor of Pharmacology, 1972; and
Stella Y. Botelho (A.B., 1940), M.D., Associate Professor of Physiology
and Pharmacology (Instructor, 1949-50; Associate, 1950-53; Assistant
Professor, 1954-57; Associate Professor, 1957-69; Professor of Physiology,
1969-85; Professor Emeritus, 1985-present; Alumni Award of Merit,
1968).
In the Medical and Surgical Specialties:
Margaret Gray Wood, B.A., M.D., Assistant Professor of Dermatology
(Assistant Professor of Dermatology, 1968-71; Associate Professor
of Dermatology (but without tenure), 1971-74; Clinical Professor
of Dermatology in the Associated Faculty (without tenure), 1977-80;
Clinical Professor of Dermatology, July 1980 only; Professor of
Dermatology in the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in
the Standing Faculty - Clinician-Educator - in the School of Medicine,
August 1980-);
Leah Shore Finkelstein (B.S. in Ed., 1932; M.D., 1936), Assistant
Professor of Radiology (1969-76); Assistant Clinical Professor of
Radiology in the Associated Faculty (1976-78); and
Adele K. Friedman, B.A., M.D., M.Sc. (Med.), Clinical Assistant
Professor of Radiology (Associate Professor of Radiology (but without
tenure), 1972-86; Associate Professor of Radiology in the Associated
Faculty, 1986-).
In the Dental Specialties:
Mary Elizabeth Baumann (B.S.N., 1957), Assistant Professor of
Oral Histology and Pathology.
In the Veterinary Medical Sciences:
None.
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1965 |
In June, the University appointed Dorothy Ann Mereness, A.B., R.N.,
M. Litt., Ed.D., to the senior academic administrator position of
Dean of the School of Nursing. She was the second woman to be appointed
Dean of this School and the fourth woman to be named an academic
dean at Penn.
Also in 1965, Zenovia Alice Sochor (A.B., 1965) was the first woman
at Penn to be named a Thouron Fellow.
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1966 |
In the spring semester, Penn's undergraduate students elected Barbara
Berger (A.B., 1967) the first President of the merged Student Government
Association. She thereby became the first woman President of an
Ivy League student government. In October 1980, Barbara (Berger)
Opotowsky returned to Penn as a Dean's "Visiting Fellow"
of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. She had become a lawyer and
was the first woman to head New York City's Better Business Bureau.
In May, the University announced the appointment of Alice F. Emerson,
B.A., Ph.D., to the senior administrative position of Acting Dean
of Women and the faculty position of Assistant Professor of Political
Science. Prior to accepting her appointment at Penn, Dr. Emerson
was a Lecturer in Political Science at Bryn Mawr College.
In November, the Trustees elected Dr. Emerson to the position of
Dean of Women. In April 1969, the Trustees changed the title of
Dean of Women to Dean of Students. Alice Emerson was the first woman
at Penn to hold the title of Dean of Students.
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1967 |
At the Commencement held on
22 May, the University awarded the degree of Bachelor of Science in
Metallurgical Engineering to Anne Judith Apter. She was the first
woman to earn the B.S. in Metal. E. at Penn.
Also at the Commencement of 1967, the University awarded the Wharton
School's degree of Master of Science in Accounting to Virginia Leigh
Swope. She was the first woman to earn the M.S. in Accounting degree
at Penn and the only woman in the first class of Wharton School
graduates to earn this degree.
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1968 |
After more than fifty years of separate events, the women's and
men's Hey Day ceremonies were merged in a single, co-educational
program. During the traditional Hey Day observances, the University
conferred awards and honors on its most accomplished undergraduate
students.
In December, the Trustees established the "Professional Board
for the School of Veterinary Medicine" and elected fourteen
persons as Associate Trustees of the University with membership
on this professional board. Two members of the first Board were
women: Marietta Springer Patterson ("Mrs. William D. Patterson")
and Ella A. Widener Wetherill ("Mrs. Cortright Wetherill").
They were the first women whose oversight responsibilities were
sought solely for the benefit of the School of Veterinary Medicine.
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