Emily Lovira Gregory

Emily Lovira Gregory (1840–1897) was an American botanist born in Portage, New York. She began her educational career by receiving her Bachelor's of Arts from Cornell University in 1881, later earning a Ph.D. at the University of Zurich. This made her one of the first American women to earn a doctoral degree from a university in Europe. Gregory often found it difficult to find paid academic positions. She often would take on the unpaid positions because she could support herself. From 1890 to 1895 at the University of Pennsylvania and Barnard College she worked as a teaching fellow and lecturer respectively. Gregory was the first woman elected to the American Society of Naturalists in 1886. She later died of pneumonia in 1897.

Gregory spent her childhood on her family farm in Portage, New York. During this time she received her education at Albion Seminary in Portage. Following graduation, she took a teaching position at Dunkirk (Fredonia) Friendship Seminary where she taught for some time. Once she earned enough money, she began to attend Cornell University starting in 1876. She graduated from Cornell University in 1881 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Literature and a minor in Botany.

After a short period of teaching, Gregory went on to further her education. At this time, women were not accepted into graduate programs in the United States, therefore; she traveled to Europe. She acquired her doctorate degree at the University of Zurich after writing a dissertation titled “Comparative Anatomy of the Filz-like Hair-covering of Leaf Organs”. She studied with other notable botanist such as Albert Wigand, Johannes Reinke, and Simon Schwendener. Gregory was the first American woman to earn a doctorate in botany.

Gregory began her work as a teacher of botany at Smith College in 1881. Once completing her higher degree at the University of Zurich, she took a position at Bryn Mawr College as a botanist on their faculty. After two years in this position, she was forced out after refusing to subordinate her botany classes to the general biology curriculum. She then took a position at the University of Pennsylvania as a teaching fellow of botany and helped develop the botanical laboratory there. Taking this position made her the first female faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania. She offered two courses: General Botany and Plant Anatomy. After some years with the University of Pennsylvania, Barnard College was founded. Gregory was the first faculty member in 1895, and was appointed the first dean of the college. She is credited with the successful development and excellent reputation of the botany department.

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