Fanny Rysan Mulford Hitchcock

Fanny Rysan Mulford Hitchcock (November 7, 1851 – 1936)[1] was one of only 13 women to receive their doctorates in chemistry in the 1800s,[2] and the first woman to receive a doctorate in Philosophy of Chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania. She made contributions to entomology, fish osteology, and plant pathology.[3] She began her studies at Columbia University publishing several papers, and then transferred to the University of Pennsylvania. She worked at many colleges including University of Berlin and University of Pennsylvania. She worked at the University of Pennsylvania for nineteen years and devoted her life to helping women pursuing an education at the university.

Fanny Rysan Mulford Hitchcock FAAAS[1]
Born	November 7, 1851
Died	1936
Known for	one of only 13 women to receive their doctorates in chemistry in the 1800s
Scientific career
Fields	chemistry
Institutions	University of Pennsylvania

Life

She was born on November 7, 1851, to Elizabeth and Julius Hitchcock.[1] Before enrolling with any American university she was undertaking research in vertebrate palaeontology, amongst other topics.[4] She presented her paper on Edestus fossils to the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1887.[4] She began her university studies at Columbia University, and then transferred to the University of Pennsylvania. In pursuit of science, she then worked in the chemistry department at the University of Berlin in 1892 and returned to the University of Pennsylvania after a year to become the first Director of the Women's Graduate Department.[3] She held this position for nineteen years. Her financial support helped to establish a women's athletic program at the University of Pennsylvania.[1] She also attempted to establish one or more undergraduate courses for women at the University of Pennsylvania, but her proposal was rejected by the trustees of the University.[1] Aside from her academic studies and positions at various universities, she maintained a laboratory in both her home in Philadelphia and her country residence in Warwick, New York.[1] In 1921, she retired from her life as a chemist at seventy years old and donated all of her equipment to the University of Pennsylvania.[1] She was known to support the financial needs of students who could not afford to attend the University.[1] She died in 1936 in her Warwick country residence.

Scientific contributions and articles

The Tungstates and Molybdates of the Rare Earths[5]

XI.—Further Notes on the Osteology of the Shad,(Alosa sapidissima)[6]

Introductory Note on the Reduction of Metallic Oxides, At High Temperatures[7]

Not a complete list.

References

1. "Fanny Rysam Mulford Hitchcock (1851 - 1936)". University of Pennsylvania University Archives. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
2. Rothenberg, Marc (2001). The History of Science (1st ed.). New York, NY: Garland Publishing. p. 116. ISBN 978-0815307624.
3. Creese, Mary (1998). Ladies in the Laboratory? American and British Women in Science, 1800-1900: A Survey of their Research (1st ed.). Lanham, MD & London: The Scarecrow Press. p. 256. ISBN 978-0810832879.
4. Ewing, Susan (2017). Resurrecting the shark : a scientific obsession and the mavericks who solved the mystery of a 270-million-year-old fossil. New York: Simon and Schuster. pp. 50–51. ISBN 978-1-68177-392-6. OCLC 981759896.
5. Hitchcock, Fanny (1895). "The Tungstates and Molybdates of the Rare Earths". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 17 (6): 483. doi:10.1021/ja02162a006.
6. Hitchcock, Fanny (1889). "XI.—Further Notes on the Osteology of the Shad,(Alosa sapidissima)". Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 4 (1): 225–228. Bibcode:1889NYASA...4..225H. doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.1889.tb57039.x.
7. Hitchcock, Fanny (1898). "Introductory Note of the Reduction of Metallic Oxides, At High Temperatures". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 20 (3): 232–233. doi:10.1021/ja02065a009.