Women’s History Month

Ruth deForest Lamb was the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) first Chief Educational Officer and author of the book American Chamber of Horrors, which was a call to action for food safety reform. A graduate of Vassar College’s class of 1918, she  worked in advertising as a copyrighter before she joining the agency. Her … Read more

Effie Alberta Read earned a Ph.D. and a M.D. before American women earned the right to vote. She was among the best trained analysts when she joined the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1907. And one of the only women in the agency’s Bureau of Chemistry.  Her accomplishments as  a food safety pioneer are … Read more

During her 28-year career at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) , Mattie Rae Spivey Fox  authored 100 scholarly papers, and earned the agency’s highest distinction, the FDA Award of Merit. Her work for the agency, which began in 1962, focussed on essential minerals and toxic elements, and the roles they play in metabolism … Read more

Mary Engle Pennington was the first female lab chief of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Her research “helped revolutionize the food supply, making more safe, fresh foods available at affordable prices, particularly in newly industrialized areas of the country,” according to the agency, which is spotlighting her career for Women’s History Month. Born … Read more

Imogene Gollinger was a high school science teacher before she became the first female to be hired as a field inspector for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1965. Her accomplishments as a food safety pioneer are being spotlighted by the FDA during Women’s History Month. Arriving for her first day of work … Read more

In 1999, more than half of all employees of the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) were women. Still, no woman had ever held the agency’s top spot until President Clinton nominated Jane Henney, M.D. as commissioner that year. Her accomplishments as a food safety pioneer are being spotlighted by the FDA during Women’s History … Read more