Stephenson, Marjory (1885–1948)

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Stephenson, Marjory (1885–1948)

English biochemist. Born in 1885; died in 1948; attended Newnham College, 1903–06; studied under F.G. Hopkins; awarded a Beit Memorial fellowship for medical research.

Marjory Stephenson was the foremost authority on bacterial metabolism during the 1930 and 1940s. After a four-year career delay during World War I when she served with British Red Cross in France and Salonika, Stephenson continued her pursuits in biochemistry. She was appointed to the permanent staff of the Medical Research Council (1929); was a reader in chemical microbiology at the University of Cambridge; was one of the first two women (with Kathleen Lonsdale ) to be elected fellow of the Royal Society (1945); and was president of the Society of General Microbiology. Her volume on bacterial metabolism was part of the "Monographs on Biochemistry" series, while her 1930 book Bacterial Metabolism is considered a standard work.

sources:

Kass-Simon, G., and Patricia Farnes, eds. Women of Science: Righting the Record. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1990.

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