Evelyn Hodes Wilson
Named Scholarship
Evelyn was … an active role model for countless women academics in science, a champion of women’s rights, and a promoter of education in the arts.
Evelyn Hodes Wilson was a pioneer among women. She was born in Philadelphia in 1921. After graduating from high school, she was awarded a scholarship to Bryn Mawr College, where she received a BA in chemistry. She went on to receive a master’s degree in organic chemistry from Radcliffe College. Evelyn went on to earn her PhD from Harvard where she wrote her thesis on antimalarial drugs and won a prize for best doctoral thesis in the any department.
Evelyn devoted her life to scientific research and to higher education. Despite being born into a family of humble means early in the 20th century, through hard work in applying her rare intellectual gifts, she went on to become the first woman at Harvard to earn a Chemistry PhD, to contribute to the synthesizing of the widely used drug Prednisone, and rose to the vice presidency at Rutgers University in New Jersey. Evelyn was, throughout her life, an active role model for countless women academics in science, a champion of women’s rights, and a promoter of education in the arts.
To honor Evelyn Hodes Wilson, her husband, Armin Wilson, and their son, Jonathan Wilson, have established a scholarship fund in her memory for undergraduates at Soka University.