Libbie Henrietta Hyman

(1888 - 1969)

Born to a Polish father and a German mother in Iowa, Hyman grew up in poverty.  After graduating as valedictorian of her class, she excelled at the University of Chicago, earning her BA in 1910 and her Ph.D. in 1915.  Hyman became a leading zoologist and wrote two laboratory manuals and a six-volume work, The Invertebrates. The American Museum of Natural History awarded her a Gold Medal Award for Distinguished Achievement in Science, and she also won the Gold Medal in Zoology from the Linnean Society of London. Though Hyman had no formal ties with the Jewish community, she willed one thousand dollars to the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York.

Sources: Jewish Women's Archive