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Article: Pathway to the Prize; Gertrude Elion, From Unpaid Lab Assistant to Nobel Glory
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- October 25, 1988
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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Basking in the acclaim of the Nobel Prize in Medicine last week,
drug researcher Gertrude B. Elion also recalled an earlier time, long
ago and less upbeat.
It was 1937, the depth of the Great Depression. Fresh out of
college with a degree in chemistry, Elion couldn't find a paying job.
"There weren't many jobs," she remembers, "and what jobs there
were, were not for women."
No matter that she was bright, hardworking, dedicated-and had
graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Hunter College in
New York.
"It didn't make a particle of difference," Elion says. "I was a
woman."
She had to settle for a nonpaying job as a lab assistant in a New
York nursing school for six months ...