In winter 1997, at age 60, when many researchers might be looking forward to retirement, Harriet Latham Robinson SM '61, PhD '65 was pursuing a faculty position as the chief of microbiology and immunology at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Often, as the only woman in a room throughout much of her career, and in the still-developing and male-dominated field of molecular biology, her colleagues were referred to as 'doctor' or 'professor' at scientific symposia and committee meetings. Robinson was born in 1938, the second of four children, to a mother, Ruth, and a father, Allen, from Ohio and Connecticut, respectively. After finishing grammar school, she attended the Girls' Latin School, a public magnet school for college-bound young women. Although the school offered only two classes in science ' one semester of chemistry and a health class ' Robinson credits her time there for inspiring a lifelong love of learning, especially...
learn more
