May Owen

Biography

Early life May Owen was born on a farm near Marlin in Falls County, Texas on May 3, 1891. In 1912, she enrolled in Texas Christian University and upon graduation in 1917 began working in the medical laboratory of Truman C. Terrell in Fort Worth, Texas. She applied to numerous medical schools but was rejected because they did not accept women, but did gain approval when she applied to the University of Louisville School of Medicine, in Louisville, Kentucky. The 1918 flu pandemic convinced her to pursue a career in pathology and Owen graduated with her degree in 1921. and peritoneal scarring. poisoning and her analysis of diabetes in sheep. The Tarrant County Medical Society honored her with the Gold-Headed Cane Award

In 1960, Owen was elected as the first woman president of the TMA In 1965, Owen sponsored a health fair to raise funds for a health museum, which was subsequently built and named the May Owen Hall of Medical Science in her honor. In 1966, she contributed $300,000 to establish a scholarship trust fund through the TMA for medical students. In 1986, she was inducted into the Texas Women's Hall of Fame and died on April 12, 1988, in Fort Worth, Texas.