b
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Linda B. Buck
Physiologist / 1947 -
Linda B. Buck is an American scientist and the 2004 co-recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine.
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(1947-)
Physiologist
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Jocelyn Bell Burnell
Astronomer / 1943 -
British astronomer Jocelyn Bell Burnell assisted in constructing a large radio telescope and discovered pulsars, cosmic sources of peculiar radio pulses.
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(1943-)
Astronomer
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Annie Jump Cannon
Astronomer / 1863 - 1941
Annie Jump Cannon was a pioneering astronomer responsible for the classification of hundreds of thousands of stars.
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(1863-1941)
Astronomer
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Rachel Carson
Environmental Activist, Biologist, Academic Author, Journalist / 1907 - 1964
Rachel Carson was a marine biologist, environmentalist and writer who alerted the world to the environmental impact of fertilizers and pesticides.
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(1907-1964)
Environmental Activist, Biologist, Academic Author, Journalist
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Marie Curie
Physicist / 1867 - 1934
Marie Curie was a Polish-born French physicist famous for her work on radioactivity and twice a winner of the Nobel Prize.
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(1867-1934)
Physicist
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Marie M. Daly
Chemist / 1921 - 2003
Marie M. Daly is best known for being the first African American woman to receive a Ph.D. in chemistry in the United States.
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(1921-2003)
Chemist
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Mileva Einstein-Maric
Physicist / 1875 - 1948
Mileva Einstein-Maric was the first wife of Nobel Prize-winning physicist Albert Einstein.
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(1875-1948)
Physicist
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Gertrude B. Elion
Chemist / 1918 - 1999
American biochemist and pharmacologist Gertrude B. Elion helped develop drugs to treat leukemia and prevent kidney transplant rejection. She won a Nobel Prize for medicine in 1988.
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(1918-1999)
Chemist
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Dian Fossey
Zoologist / 1932 - 1985
Dian Fossey was a zoologist best known for researching the endangered gorillas of the Rwandan mountain forest from the 1960s to the '80s, and for her mysterious murder.
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(1932-1985)
Zoologist
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Rosalind Franklin
Chemist / 1920 - 1958
British chemist Rosalind Franklin is best known for her role in the discovery of the structure of DNA ,and for her pioneering use of X-ray diffraction.
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(1920-1958)
Chemist
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Jane Goodall
Animal Rights Activist, Scientist / 1934 -
Jane Goodall created one of the most trailblazing studies of primates in modern times when she dwelled with Tanzanian chimps to observe their behavior.
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(1934-)
Animal Rights Activist, Scientist
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Temple Grandin
Educator, Biologist, Writer / 1947 -
Temple Grandin is a noted animal expert and advocate for autistic populations who has penned the books Animals in Translation and Animals Make Us Human.
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(1947-)
Educator, Biologist, Writer
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Alice Hamilton
Educator, Activist, Doctor, Chemist / 1869 - 1970
Alice Hamilton was a physician and authority on lead poisoning and industrial disease. The NIOSH present an award in her name.
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(1869-1970)
Educator, Activist, Doctor, Chemist
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Caroline Lucretia Herschel
Singer, Astronomer / 1750 - 1848
Caroline Lucretia Herschel assisted her brother, Sir William Herschel, with scientific research, but became a respected astronomer in her own right. She earned a gold medal from the Royal Astronomical Society in 1828.
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(1750-1848)
Singer, Astronomer
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Terri Irwin
Activist, Zoologist, Television Personality, Television Producer, Journalist / 1964 -
Naturalist Terri Irwin is well-known as the widow of wildlife expert Steve Irwin. The couple co-hosted the Animal Planet show The Crocodile Hunter.
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(1964-)
Activist, Zoologist, Television Personality, Television Producer, Journalist
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Mae C. Jemison
Astronaut, Doctor, Scientist / 1956 -
Doctor Mae C. Jemison is the first African-American woman ever to be a U.S. astronaut. In 1992, she flew into space aboard the Endeavour.
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(1956-)
Astronaut, Doctor, Scientist
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Mary Leakey
Anthropologist, Scientist / 1913 - 1996
Mary Leakey was a paleoanthropologist who, along with husband Louis, made several prominent scientific discoveries. Skull fossils found by the Leakeys advanced our understanding of human evolution.
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(1913-1996)
Anthropologist, Scientist
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Rita Levi-Montalcini
Educator, Medical Professional, Neurologist, Academic Author / 1909 - 2012
Rita Levi-Montalcini shared the 1986 Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine for her part in the discovery of a protein that stimulates nerve cell growth.
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(1909-2012)
Educator, Medical Professional, Neurologist, Academic Author
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Barbara McClintock
Botanist, Geneticist / 1902 - 1992
Scientist Barbara McClintock won a Nobel Prize in 1983 for her study of corn chromosomes, which revolutionized the field of cytogenetics.
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(1902-1992)
Botanist, Geneticist
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Maria Mitchell
Astronomer / 1818 - 1889
Maria Mitchell is best known for being the first professional woman astronomer in the United States.
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(1818-1889)
Astronomer
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Christiane Nuesslein-Volhard
Geneticist / 1942 -
Christiane Nuesslein-Volhard is a German developmental geneticist who won a Nobel Prize for research concerning the mechanisms of early embryonic development.
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(1942-)
Geneticist
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Lisa Perez Jackson
Civil Servant, Engineer, Chemist / 1962 -
Lisa Perez Jackson is a chemical engineer who in 2008 became the first African American to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
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(1962-)
Civil Servant, Engineer, Chemist
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Ellen Richards
Scientist / 1842 - 1911
Chemist, sanitation engineer, and home economist Ellen Richards opened scientific education and professions to women when she started teaching at MIT in 1884.
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(1842-1911)
Scientist
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Sally Ride
Educator, Astronaut, Physicist / 1951 - 2012
In 1983, astronaut and astrophysicist Sally Ride became the first American woman in space aboard the space shuttle Challenger. Ride died on July 23, 2012 at the age of 61, following a battle with pancreatic cancer.
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(1951-2012)
Educator, Astronaut, Physicist
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Florence Sabin
Educator, Biologist, Immunologist / 1871 - 1953
Medical researcher Florence Sabin was the first female to graduate from Johns Hopkins Medical School in 1900. She studied the brain and tuberculosis.
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(1871-1953)
Educator, Biologist, Immunologist
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Elizabeth Stern
Scientist / 1915 - 1980
Pathologist Elizabeth Stern tracked the 250 stages of a cell's progression from normal to cancerous, enabling early cancer screening.
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(1915-1980)
Scientist
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Rosalyn S. Yalow
Academic, Physicist / 1921 -
Rosalyn S. Yalow was a Nobel Prize-winning medical physicist who conducted groundbreaking research on type II diabetes.
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(1921-)
Academic, Physicist