Period 0

2/10/21

 

Marie Maynard Daly was the first African American woman to earn a Ph.D in chemistry. She studied and researched the effects of cholesterol on the heart and also studied the effects of different nutrients on artery health. Additionally, she contributed and studied how the circulatory system is different depending on age and also studied the effects of hypertension on the circulatory system. Later in her life she studied how proteins are made and organized in a cell. 

Marie Maynard Daly also helped increase the amount of minority students in medical and graduate schools. She also helped research the effects of cigarette smoking on the lungs.

Background: (I know it wasn't required but I wanted to include it anyway)

Marie Maynard Daly was educated in an all-female high school where she was encouraged to pursue chemistry, and later got into Queens College in New York, graduated with a bachelor's degree in chemistry, and got her master’s degree after only one year. She then enrolled in a doctoral program at Columbia University and investigated how compounds made in the body affects digestion. Only three years after being in the program, she got her PhD in chemistry, becoming the first African American woman to get a PhD in chemistry. Daly began researching molecular biology in the Rockefeller Institute, New York, where she studied the components of a nucleus and many other studies. Lastly, Marie Maynard Daly became a college professor in medicine and participated in programs where she helped increase the amount of minority students in medical school.

I thought Marie Maynard Dally’s story and achievements were very inspirational. I am right now gearing towards wanting to be in the medical field, and believe she is a wonderful role model for all people. She worked extremely hard and achieved so many things which is incredible. I hope to one day achieve as many things as she did. In health and biology, I learned that I really enjoy learning about the heart and arteries. Marie Maynard Daly studied and made contributions to this area of research which I found very interesting. Additionally, the macromolecules unit in biology was one of my favorites, and Daly also contributed in studies involving those as well.

 

Angie Turner King was an education and one of the first African American women to earn a degree in chemistry and math. King mentored and educated many African American students, especially in math and chemistry. First, King got a degree in math, she later returned to school to receive her chemistry degree, being one of the first African American women to do so. King’s chemistry thesis she wrote is titled "The Interaction Between Solutions of Tannic Acid and Hydrous Ferric Oxide” which was published as her research. King had few published research works, but instead focused on education and helped educate many more African Americans on chemistry and math, thus teaching another generation and group of innovators in the science field. During World War II, King worked as an educator for soldiers at WVSC. Moreover, King also taught at the collegiate level at West Virginia State University. The achievement of Angie Turner King that I would most like to honor is her being one of the first African American women to receive a math and chemistry degree and then using her knowledge to educate other African Americans.

Impact on me & connection:

A personal connection to Angie Turner King that I share is the love for math and science while being a female. King’s achievements have impacted me by paving the way for future females (like me) in the science and math fields, seeing as she was one of the first to get a degree in math and science. She also impacted me by being a role model in that she used her knowledge in chemistry and math to educate and mentor other African Americans, or minority groups, about chemistry and math, thus allowing for more contributions and research to be made in the scientific field.

Period 1

2/10/21

Angie Turner King was a chemist, mathematicians, and educator. She was one of the 1st black women to receive degrees in chemistry and mathematics. She also received her Phd in mathematics education and  thought some of the most successful African Americans in stem. I connect with her because she shows that there is nothing you cannot/ aren’t allowed to do. She also demonstrates that you have the capability to do multiple important things such as work in math and science. 

Katherine Johnson inspired me to keep working on math. She helped with the math needed to pilot one of the ships sent to space. This has motivated me to pay attention in my math classes. It just shows how important math can be. 

Period 0

02/10/21

Charles Richard Drew also known as the “Father of the Blood Bank” was a surgeon and discovered a method to store blood plasma long-term. Charles discovered this method during World War II. This method became the standardized procedure for long-term blood storage by the American Red Cross. Charles’s discovery was able to save thousands of lives. His discovery will impact me in the future because I would like to become a surgeon when I grow up. For this reason, I will most likely need to use the blood donated from other people that was stored by Charles’s method.

This impacted me because my grandmother had to face cancer herself and, without Hayden’s dedicated research, we could have given her medicines that are far from ideal in helping her case. Hayden did not only helped me, but helped everyone who faced cancer or knows someone who is facing cancer, and we do not give her enough credit.