Florence Schaeffer was head of the Department of Chemistry at the Woman’s College of the University of North Carolina (now the University of North Carolina at Greensboro) from 1934 until 1964 and a member of the faculty for fifty years starting in 1922. An important influence on the women chemists who graduated from the Woman’s College, Florence benefited from the unique example provided by her experience at Mount Holyoke College where she received her Master’s degree. With productive research programs in chemistry, Mount Holyoke College was a leader in the research training of young women chemists, many of whom went on to receive PhDs at other universities. Although records of her work are sparse, Florence evidently pursued studies toward a PhD at Yale University focusing on synthesis of antiseptics, an area making advances at the time. This study of her life looks at the path she took in her graduate studies, the possible reasons her PhD went uncompleted, and the lasting influence she had on generations of women chemists at the Woman’s College.

Florence Schaeffer at the Woman’s College of UNC and the legacy of Mount Holyoke College

ACS Fall 2021

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