In 1956, Rita Colwell was walking with her fiancé across the campus of Purdue University when she spotted Henry Koffler, an eminent biologist. She had just earned a bachelor’s in bacteriology at the university, and she told the renowned professor that she planned to postpone medical school and secure a graduate fellowship at Purdue while she waited for her partner to finish his master’s in chemistry. She recalls the late Dr. Koffler’s response as swift and chilling: “We don’t waste fellowships on women,” he told her, adding, “The only degree you’re going to get is in the maternity ward of a hospital.”Now...

Source: Wall Street Journal August 14, 2020 15:56 UTC