About Mary Locke Petermann
Mary Locke Petermann (February 25, 1908 – December 13, 1975) was an American cellular biochemist known for her key role in the discovery and characterization of animal ribosomes, the molecular complexes that carry out protein synthesis. She was the first woman to become a full professor at Cornell University's medical school. == Early life and education == Mary Petermann was born February 25, 1908, in Laurium, Michigan, to Anna Mae Grierson and Albert Edward Petermann, general manager of the Calumet and Hecla Consolidated Copper Company in Calumet, Michigan. She attended Calumet High School and Massachusetts preparatory school, then graduated from Smith College in 1929 with high honors in chemistry. She then took a break from schooling, spending a year working at Yale University as a research technician, followed by four years researching acid-base imbalance in psychiatric patients at the Boston Psychopathic Hospital. She began doctoral studies in physiological chemistry at the University of Wisconsin in 1936. In 1939, she graduated with a Ph.D for thesis work on the role of the adrenal cortex in ion regulation. == Career == After receiving her doctorate, she stayed on at the University of Wisconsin. She became their physical chemistry department's first female chemist staff member and remained there as a postdoctoral researcher until 1945. At Wisconsin, she performed research on the physical chemistry of proteins with John Warren Williams and Alwin M. Pappenheimer, including analysis of antibody-antigen interactions, in particular those between diphtheria toxin and antitoxin.
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