Marie M. Daly (1921 – 2003)
Marie Daly was an American biochemist and the first African-American woman to receive a Chemistry Ph.D. in the United States. Marie’s groundbreaking work led to a new understanding of how diet affects the human circulatory system. Ms. Daly’s early research included studies of the effects of cholesterol on the mechanics of the heart, the effects of sugars and other nutrients on the health of arteries, and the breakdown of the circulatory system as a result of advanced age or hypertension. Later she studied how proteins are produced and organized in the cell. Marie was one of the first people to research the effects of cigarette smoking on the lungs.
As well as her own research, Marie taught biochemistry courses while encouraging and supporting minority students to enrol in medical and science programs. In 1988, she founded a scholarship for minority students wanting to study science at Queen’s College in New York.