Throughout March, the Democrats will present an ongoing blog series celebrating American women of distinction, both past and present. Staff members at the Democratic National Committee and several female leaders in the Democratic Party have been asked to write about influential women in our country’s history and leaders who continue making contributions today.
In 1977, Rosalyn Yalow became a co-winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, only the second woman in history to do so. Her team pioneered the discovery of radioimmunoassay (“RIA”) technology, which measured hundreds of types of substances in the human body, from drugs to hormones to disease. Standing in front of the international Nobel committee in Oslo, Norway, she used her spotlight and moment of victory to advocate for equality:
“Women are represented in reasonable proportion to their numbers in the community; yet among the scientists, scholars and leaders of our world they are not. No objective testing has revealed such substantial differences in talent as to account for this discrepancy. The failure of women to have reached positions of leadership has been due in large part to social and professional discrimination.”
Yalow was born in the Bronx in 1921—the product of the wave of Jewish immigrants from Europe who came and settled in New York in the early part of the century. Neither of her parents graduated high school. From an early age, she demonstrated an aptitude for math and science.
She excelled academically in elementary school and high school and entered college early. At 20, she began her graduate studies in physics at the University of Illinois. The straight-A student was the only woman in the department and only the second woman in the school’s history.
After receiving her doctorate in 1945 she became an engineer in the Federal Telecommunications Laboratory. She was the only woman engineer. From there, she continued her public service, taking a position with the Veteran’s Administration hospital, where she studied radioactive isotopes and their relationship to adult onset diabetes. It was this research that led to the discovery and development of RIA.
Today, RIA continues to have a lasting impact and plays a crucial role in the development of technologies to screen and process blood donations worldwide.
For her work, Yalow won many more awards, including the Albert Lasker prize for medical research, the Scientific Achievement Award of the American Medical Association, and numerous other accolades as well as honorary degrees. From 1966–1967, she served on President Lyndon B. Johnson’s study group for Professional Women’s Careers. In various roles at universities and medical colleges, she served as a mentor and role model to women students. Yalow used her success to empower other women:
“We cannot expect in the immediate future that all women who seek it will achieve full equality of opportunity. But if women are to start moving towards that goal, we must believe in ourselves or no one else will believe in us; we must match our aspirations with the competence, courage and determination to succeed; and we must feel a personal responsibility to ease the path for those who come afterwards.”
Yalow’s legacy as a fierce advocate and role model for women is why I choose to honor her during Women’s History Month. This year, the month coincides with the Jewish holiday of Purim, which commemorates Queen Esther and her heroic actions of bravery and courage. This time of year, I pause to think about the great women throughout history who have had a tremendous impact on my life. So it is especially fitting to share the modern day story of Rosalyn Yalow, whose legacy and message have inspired me deeply as a Jewish woman and as a progressive advocate.