Ellen Swallow Richards, born on this day in 1842, was the first woman to graduate from MIT and later became its first female instructor. She is recognized as the creator of the fields of ecology and home economics (which she taught as a way to expose young girls to the properties of chemistry and engineering in a socially acceptable way). MIT's president countered concerns that she was too frail to teach such a serious subject by saying: "Yes, but did you see her eyes? She will not fail."
(Image courtesy of the MIT Museum, Richards is pictured with the rest of the MIT Chemistry Department)
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