Alma Levant Hayden

Alma Levant Hayden (March 30, 1927 – August 2, 1967) was an American chemist, and one of the first African-American women to gain a scientist position at a science agency in Washington, D.C. Hayden graduated from Howard University with a master's degree in chemistry, and became an expert in spectrophotometry. and graduated with honors in 1947 from South Carolina State College, a historically black college in Orangeburg, South Carolina. Originally planning to be a nurse, she found herself so interested in chemistry that she "just didn't want to part from it". She gained a master's degree in chemistry from Howard University. There had reportedly been a reluctance to employ African-Americans there because scientific officers may have to give testimony in courts, and there was concern about how this would be received in some parts of the U.S. In 1963, Hayden became Chief of the Spectrophotometer Research Branch in the Division of Pharmaceutical Chemistry. With these provisions in place, the FDA sought to identify the ingredients in Krebiozen, a controversial and expensive alternative cancer treatment. Hayden assigned students in her branch the task of seeing whether spectrometer images of Krebiozen matched any of the 20,000 alphabetically-listed images on file at the FDA. On September 3, 1963, a likely match was quickly found in the "C"s: a common substance, creatine. The discovery was announced at a press conference. Hayden's report is detailed in the U.S. Congressional Record. Hayden testified at the lengthy criminal trial of the promoters of Krebiozen, Stevan Durovic and Andrew C. Ivy. Hayden AL, Heftmann E, Johnson DF. Determination of individual adrenocortical steroids in urine. Acta Endocrinol (Copenh) 1956;23(4):341–356. Hayden AL, Sammul OR. Infrared analysis of pharmaceuticals. 1. Application of the potassium bromide disk technique to some steroids, alkaloids, barbiturates, and other drugs. J Am Pharm Assoc Am Pharm Assoc 1960;49:489–496. Hayden AL, Sammul OR. Infrared analysis of pharmaceuticals. 2. A study of the cinchona alkaloids in potassium bromide disks. J Am Pharm Assoc Am Pharm Assoc 1960;49:497–502. Hayden AL. Infrared analysis of pharmaceuticals. III. Identification and determination of adrenocortical steroids, barbiturates, and sulfonamides from paper chromatograms. J Pharm Sci 1960; 51: 617–622. Hayden AL, Sammul OR, Selzer GB. Infrared, ultraviolet, and visible absorption spectra of some USP and NF reference standards and their derivatives. Association of Official Agricultural Chemists, 1962; 45: 797–900. Hayden AL, Brannon WL, Craig NR. A micro-extraction technique with compounds isolated from thin-layer chromatograms. J Pharm Sci 1968: 57(5): 858–860.

Personal life Hayden married a fellow NIH research chemist, Alonzo R. Hayden. He had also undertaken postgraduate studies at Howard University, and worked at the NIH from 1952 to 1958.

The Haydens had two children, Michael and Andrea. She loved doing science throughout her life.