Estelle Ramey

Estelle Rosemary Ramey (August 23, 1917 – September 8, 2006) was an American endocrinologist, physiologist and feminist who became internationally known for refuting surgeon and Democratic Party leader Edgar Berman, who stated that women were unfit to hold high public office because of "raging hormonal imbalances." Ramey's balanced approach to life was embodied in a later quote, "I have loved. And been loved. And all the rest is background music."

Early life Born Stella Rosemary Rubin in Detroit, Michigan to Jewish immigrant parents, Ramey grew up in Brooklyn, New York after moving with her family as an infant. She was named by her mother as a "star." A French immigrant, her mother had a third-grade education and was illiterate. Throughout her childhood, Ramey's mother encouraged her and her siblings to pursue education. In grade school, a teacher insisted that she formalize her name as Estelle in order to register. Ramey's father died when she was a teenager.

Education Ramey graduated from high school at 15 and earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics and biology from Brooklyn College at 19. In the midst of the Great Depression, she earned a $750-a-year teaching fellowship at Queens College in New York and later obtained her master's degree in physical chemistry from Columbia University in 1940. In 1941 she married the lawyer James T. Ramey, with whom she went on to have two children. Throughout her lifetime, Ramey was awarded 14 honorary degrees. She was the first woman faculty member at the University of Chicago Medical School.

As an endocrinologist, Ramey wrote letters to the Washington Evening Star and The Washington Post criticizing Berman's claims. In one letter, she wrote that she was "startled to learn that ovarian hormones are toxic to brain cells," and also mentioned that during the Cuban Missile Crisis, President John F. Kennedy was suffering from Addison's disease and that his medications for that severe hormonal disorder were capable of causing severe mood swings.

Honors and awards In 1989, Ramey was inducted into the Maryland Women's Hall of Fame. Since 2000, the Georgetown University Medical Center presents an annual Estelle Ramey Mentorship Award to "honor faculty who have provided outstanding encouragement, support, and mentorship for GUMC women faculty to reach their maximum professional potential." Women and men are eligible for the award. Ramey also participated in two interviews with Columbia University's Oral History Research project.