by Leigh Ann Gardner (Senior Grants Manager)
July 3: Marine biologist Idelissa Bonnelly de Calventi, considered by many to be the “mother of marine conservation in the Caribbean, died on July 3, 2022. Born in September 1931 in Santiago de los Caballeros in the Dominican Republic, Bonnelly knew from an early age that she wanted to study marine biology. As there were no programs offered in her country, she attended Columbia University in New York City, where she received her bachelor’s degree in 1956. She also completed her master’s degree at New York University in 1961. After graduation, she worked for a while at the New Tork Aquarium before returning to the Dominican Republic in 1962. She spent the rest of her career studying the marine ecosystems of the Dominican Republic, and she founded the first education program for marine biology, the Institute of Marine Biology (later known as the Marine Biology Research Center) in the country. In the 1970s she established the Academy of Sciences of the Dominican Republic. Her work to protect the humpback whale led to the declaration of a protective zone for these animals in 1986. She also organized the first dolphin study in the Dominican Republic and worked on studies about climate change adaptation in coral reefs. You can read more about her career and life here and here.
July 5: Renowned for his research on diabetes, tuberculosis, and cancer, pathologist and physician Eugene L. Opie was born on July 5, 1873, in Staunton, Virginia. He received both his bachelor’s degree and medical degree from Johns Hopkins University, where he was a member of the first graduating class of the School of Medicine. Following graduation in 1897, he spent several years working and receiving additional training at Johns Hopkins. It was during his time in medical school that his research indicated that changes in the pancreatic tissue known as the islands of Langerhans could cause diabetes. During his time at Hopkins, Opie also found that an obstruction at the junction of the bile and pancreatic ducts leads to acute pancreatitis. After leaving Hopkins, Opie worked at the Rockefeller Institute and Washington University in St. Louis before becoming director of the Phipps Institute at the University of Pennsylvania. While there, his research on tuberculosis led to an understanding of how the disease was transmitted, and that x-rays could be used to detect asymptomatic tuberculosis. In 1932, Opie began working at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York. Opie served as the President of the American Association of Immunologists from 1928-1929 and was a member of the National Academy of the Sciences. Following his retirement at age 68, he spent 29 years researching as a “guest investigator” at the Rockefeller Institute until his death in 1970 at age 97. You can learn more about his life and research here, here, and here.
July 12: Botanist Ynés Mexía, who died on July 12, 1938, is regarded as one of the most successful plant collectors and botanists, although she did not begin this career until she was in her mid-50s. Born in Washington, DC, in 1870 to a Mexican diplomat and an American woman, Mexía spent her childhood in Washington, Texas, and Mexico City. After she completed her education, she lived with her father in Mexico and managed his ranch after his death. She married twice, and after her second husband financially ruined the ranch, she moved to San Fancisco, California. While in San Francisco, Mexía became interested in environmentalism, and decided to enroll in college at age 51 in order to study botany. She went on her first botany expedition at this time, and soon undertook many expeditions, some alone, to collect botanical specimens. She spent 13 years traveling over the Americas and collected more than 145,000 specimens during this period. She was the first person to collect plants in what is now Denali National Park. In 1938, while travelling in Mexico, Mexía became ill and was diagnosed with lung cancer. She died later that year of the disease. During her life she was a member of the Sierra Club and the Save the Redwoods League, and she left much of her estate to these organizations. You can learn more about her life and work here and here.
July 24: With White Coat Ceremony coming up this week, have you ever wondered about the origins of this ceremony? The association of physicians with white coats in the United States goes back over 100 years and replaced an earlier tradition of doctors wearing black or dark clothing. The use of white coats for doctors became associated with hygienic practices and cleanliness for patients. In the 1990s, medical schools began presenting their new students with a white coat as a way to welcome them to the profession. The first “formalized” white coat ceremony took place at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1993 and was started by Dr. Arnold P. Gold. Gold felt that medical students should have clearly defined expectations and responsibilities from the beginning of training, and that the white coat ceremony symbolized the new students committing to their new profession as healers. Interestingly, the first white coat ceremony at Vanderbilt University occurred in 1989, either on August 22nd or August 23rd. You can find out more about how white coats became associated with physicians here and the history of white coat ceremonies here.
July 27: African American inventor Garrett Morgan, inventor of a traffic light, smoke hood and many other inventions, died on July 27, 1963. Born in Kentucky in 1877, Morgan received a sixth-grade education and moved to Cincinnati to work at age 14. He spent his teen years in Cincinnati working as a handyman before he moved to Cleveland in 1895. While in Cleveland, he began repairing sewing machines, which sparked his interest in learning how things work. He began inventing things and received his first patent in 1912. Inspired by the tragedy of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, he invented a “smoke hood” or breathing device to be used by fire fighters. In 1916, this invention was used to rescue workers trapped in a tunnel under Lake Erie after a gas explosion. In the early 1920s, after witnessing a motor vehicle crash, he invented a traffic signal. Due to the racism of the time, there was resistance to using his products, such as the safety hood, so he hired white actors to promote and sell his inventions at conventions across the United States. Morgan was active in his community, and a member of the NAACP in Cleveland. Morgan died in 1963 and you can learn more about his life and inventions here and here.