Emily Lovira Gregory

Emily Lovira Gregory (1840–1897) was an American botanist born in Portage, New York. She began her educational career by receiving her Bachelor's of Arts from Cornell University in 1881, later earning a Ph.D. at the University of Zurich. This made her one of the first American women to earn a doctoral degree from a university in Europe. Gregory often found it difficult to find paid academic positions. She often would take on the unpaid positions because she could support herself. From 1890 to 1895 at the University of Pennsylvania and Barnard College she worked as a teaching fellow and lecturer respectively. Gregory was the first woman elected to the American Society of Naturalists in 1886. Early life and education Gregory was born on 31 December 1841 in Portage, New York, where she spent her childhood on her family's farm. During this time she received her education at Albion Seminary in Portage. After two years in this position, she was forced out after refusing to subordinate her botany classes to the general biology curriculum. She offered two courses: General Botany and Plant Anatomy. Gregory's appointment at Penn in 1888 made her the first woman to hold a faculty position at the university.

After about a year at Penn, Gregory moved to New York to work at Barnard College, which had recently been founded in 1889 as the women's coordinate college of Columbia University. Gregory was the first faculty member in 1895, At Barnard she served as a lecturer in botany, where she taught the college's botany students, supervised laboratory work, and developed a series of botany courses. Upon her death, Barnard College created the Emily L. Gregory annual award for outstanding teaching based on her reputation as a teacher who was dedicated to her students success. Gregory authored America's first botanical textbook that focused completely on plant anatomy, title Elements of Plant Anatomy in 1895. Gregory's research was mainly focused on plant anatomy and physiology, cell structure, and tissue function. The most notable of her works were: "The Pores of the Libriform Tissue," printed by the Bulletin Torrey Botanical Club in 1886. "Death of Dr. Wigand," printed by the Botanical Gazette in 1887. "Systematic Botany," printed by the Botanical Gazette in 1887. "Development of Cork Wings on Certain Trees," printed by the Botanical Gazette in 1888. "Notes on some Botanical Reading done in the Laboratory of Professor Schwendener, in Berlin, June and July, 1889," printed by the Bulletin Torrey Botanical Club in 1889. "Notes on the Manner of Growth of the cell," printed by the Bulletin Torrey Botanical Club in 1890. "Abnormal Growth of Spirogyra Cells," printed by the Bulletin Torrey Botanical Club in 1892. "Anatomy as a Special Department of Botany," printed by the Bulletin Torrey Botanical Club in 1893. "Elements of Plant Anatomy," printed by Ginn and Co in 1895. "What is meant by Stem and Leaf," printed by the Bulletin Torrey Botanical Club in 1896.

Later life Gregory became more involved with her church during the later years of her life. She joined a church upon moving back to New York and founded Sunday school targeted for college-age women. She detailed her thoughts on spirituality and science combined in a booklet titled "A Scientist's Confession of Faith." Gregory died of pneumonia on April 21, 1897 at the age of 55.