Mary Bidwell Breed
Born(1870-09-15)September 15, 1870
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedSeptember 15, 1949(1949-09-15) (aged 79)
Newton, New Jersey, U.S.
Resting placeHomewood Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
OccupationChemist

Mary Bidwell Breed (September 15, 1870 – September 15, 1949) was an American chemist. In 1901 she became the first female dean of Indiana University and her chemistry work with aromatic acids.

Biography

Mary Bidwell Breed was born on September 15, 1870, in Pittsburgh.[1] She was educated at Bryn Mawr College, where she received three degrees and her PhD in 1901,[2] and participated in the Bryn Mawr European Fellowship at Heidelberg University in 1895.[1][3] She wrote The Polybasic Acids of Mesitylene,[4] published in 1901, which discussed her chemistry work with aromatic acids, mainly derivatives of benzene.[4]

Before finishing her doctorate, Breed was head of the science department at Pennsylvania College for Women.[5] Her research focus was on aromatic acids and the atomic weight of palladium.[1] Breed was the dean of women at Indiana University from 1901 to 1906, making her the first female dean at Indiana University.[6] She used her position to denounce the segregation of men and women into certain academic fields.[7][8][9] Breed was also a member of the teaching faculty of Indiana University as an assistant professor of chemistry.[10] During Breed's term at Indiana University, the status of the position of dean of women began to decline. Many universities and colleges across the country reported that the women in these positions were not as accepted among the mostly male dominated faculty.[11] Her work is not well documented after 1906.[1]

Death

Breed died on her 79th birthday in 1949 in Newton, New Jersey.[12] She is buried at Homewood Cemetery in Pittsburgh.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Marilyn Ogilvie; Joy Harvey (2000). Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science. Routledge. ISBN 1-135-96343-6. Retrieved March 30, 2014.
  2. ↑ "Annual Report of the Alumnae Association of Bryn Mawr College, 1901-1905". 1901.
  3. ↑ University, Indiana (1901). Indiana University Catalog. The University.
  4. 1 2 Breed, Mary Bidwell (1901). The Polybasic Acids of Mesitylene. Lord Baltimore Press.
  5. ↑ Pennsylvania Female College (1886). Pennsylvania Female College Catalogue. Jennie King Mellon Library Chatham University. Pennsylvania Female College.
  6. ↑ "Dean of Women's Office records, 1876-1951, bulk 1917-1945". webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu. Retrieved 2017-10-21.
  7. ↑ Jana Nidiffer, Carolyn Terry Bashaw (2001). Women Administrators in Higher Education. SUNY Press. p. 142. ISBN 0-7914-4817-7.
  8. ↑ Roger B. Winston; Don G. Creamer; Theodore K. Miller (2013). The Professional Student Affairs Administrator: Educator, Leader, and Manager. Routledge. p. 172. ISBN 978-1-134-94430-9.
  9. ↑ "Mary Bidwell Breed". Indiana University. Retrieved March 30, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Dean of Women's Office records, 1876-1951, bulk 1917-1945". webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu. Retrieved 2017-10-21.
  11. ↑ Nidiffer, Jana (2004). Elder Brothers of the University: Early Vice Presidents in Late Nineteenth-Century Universities. History of Education Quarterly.
  12. ↑ "Dr. Mary Breed". Obituaries. The Pittsburgh Press. September 16, 1949. p. 43.
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