Mary Van Rensselaer Buell

Mary Van Rensselaer Buell (June 14, 1893 – February 18, 1969) was the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin. She carried on extensive research in nutrition and physiological chemistry at the University of Wisconsin, University of Iowa, Johns Hopkins University, Washington University in St. Louis, and the University of Chicago.

Early life and education Mary Van Rensselaer Buell was born in Madison, Wisconsin, on June 14, 1893, daughter of Martha (Merry) and Charles Edwin Buell. Her father was a lawyer, and her mother was a prominent clubwoman and Cornell University alumna. Mary was one of four sisters; her sister Martha married geophysicist Louis B. Slichter. At the University of Wisconsin she earned a B.A. in chemistry in 1914, an M.A. in agricultural chemistry in 1915, and a Ph.D. in biochemistry in 1919. She was a Kappa Alpha Theta, Phi Beta Kappa, and Sigma Xi.

Work Mary Van Rensselaer Buell was a member of the American Society of Biological Chemists and carried out extensive research on nutrition and physiological chemistry at University of Iowa, Johns Hopkins University, Washington University in St. Louis, and the University of Chicago.

She was listed among the faculty at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD, as an assistant professor (1921–1922), and then as an associate professor in the Department of Physiological Chemistry of the School of Medicine (1922–1930). She worked with the department of medicine from 1930 to 1946.

Buell died in 1969, leaving behind an estate valued at $290,637.