Rachel Lloyd

Rachel Lloyd (January 26, 1839 – March 7, 1900) was an American chemist who studied the chemistry and agriculture of sugar beets (Beta vulgaris). She studied at the Harvard Summer School and earned her doctorate from the University of Zurich in 1886. She was the first American woman to earn a doctorate of chemistry and the first woman to publish work in a major chemistry journal.

Lloyd worked as a professor of chemistry and head of the chemistry department at the University of Nebraska. Her work in determining the sucrose concentration of sugar beets helped establish a commercial sugar industry in Nebraska. In 1891, she became the first regularly admitted female member of the American Chemical Society. On October 1, 2014, the Society designated her research and professional contributions to chemistry at the University of Nebraska National Historic Chemical Landmark.

Early life and education Rachel Abbie Lloyd (née Holloway) was born in Flushing, Ohio, to Quaker parents Robert Smith Halloway and Abigail Taber.

Franklin Lloyd also died in 1865, shortly after William's death. Rachel Lloyd inherited a sum of money, which she used to travel Europe from 1867 to 1872, seeking medical help for rheumatism and neuralgia. Her dissertation was on the conversion of phenols to aromatic amines under Professor August Viktor Merz. During this time, she also became interested in the emerging sugar beet industry. Between 1888 and 1915, 10 of the 46 chemistry students were women.

Lloyd's scientific impact was based on her pioneering studies of sugars in sugar beets, using analytical techniques such as the saccharometer at the Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Stations. According to Lindblom, production of sugar in Nebraska increased from 736,000 pounds to 8,378,000 pounds in just 5 years. This is further supported by her involvement in the Camera Club and the Scientific Club, through which she connected with students. due to heart failure and was buried with her husband and children in Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia.

Legacy In May 2014, a time capsule was opened at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The capsule came from the cornerstone of the building that had previously housed the chemistry department and had been planted there in 1916. The capsule had initially been forgotten but was discovered when a chemistry professor searching for information on Rachel Lloyd discovered a newspaper article about the capsule. The capsule contained newspapers from the time of its burial, information about what was happening at the school at the time, photos of members of the chemistry department, and other items related to the chemistry department as it had been in 1916. Included in these photos is a high resolution photo of Lloyd, which is often used in articles about her life and work. Arguably the most important item in the capsule was a biography of Lloyd's life, titled "In Memoriam: Rachel Lloyd, Ph.D".

Published works Conversion of some Homologues of Phenol into Primary and Secondary Amines, Journal of the Chemical Society, Volume 56, 1889 Experiments in the Culture of the Sugar Beet in Nebraska, University of Nebraska, Agricultural Experiment Station of Nebraska, 1890