Nationality American Alma mater North Central College Died February 17, 2011 | Name Mildred Rebstock Fields Chemistry | |
Born November 29, 1919
Elkhart, Indiana ( 1919-11-29 ) | ||
Mildred Catherine Rebstock (November 29, 1919 – February 17, 2011) was an American chemist. She developed the world’s first synthetically engineered antibiotic, chloromycetin.
Life
Mildred Catherine Rebstock was born Nov. 29, 1919, in Elkhart, Indiana, the daughter of Redna and Adolph Rebstock, and graduated from Elkhart High School, in 1938. She graduated from North Central College, and then went on to pursue graduate studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she graduated with a PhD. While in North Central, she was also involved with the zoology club and Beta Beta Beta, the biology honors society. She studied under I.A. Koten, professor of chemistry, and Harold Eigenbrodt, professor of zoology. She maintained a perfect grade-point average while majoring in chemistry and zoology. Both professors had earned their doctoral degrees at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Rebstock was inspired to apply there for graduate work upon graduation. She received a full fellowship and researched ascorbic acid while at the university.
She worked for Parke-Davis Research Labs-chemistry department from 1945-77. In 1945, she was a junior research chemist and then a senior research chemist. In 1949, she was the key member of a research team that produced a synthetic form of the antibiotic chloromycetin, used to treat typhoid fever and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. This was the first drug that could be mass-produced quickly and cheaply to work against typhoid fever and atypical pneumonia. Chloromycetin is still commercially available and is used in the treatment of diseases such as cholera and meningitis
Time magazine in 1949 ran her photo with an article about the discovery, noting that "the achievement was due to teamwork. But a large part of the credit goes to pretty Dr. Mildred Rebstock, a 28-year-old research chemist. She chose the field because ‘I just liked that sort of thing better than some others.’" In an interview recorded by the Smithsonian Institution Archives, Dr. Rebstock said that in 1950 only about 3 percent of people in scientific research were women. But she had hope for the future. For her achievements, Dr. Rebstock was praised by President Harry Truman in 1950 when she was lauded by the Women's National Press Club for outstanding achievement in science. She was awarded the title of "The Woman of the Year in Science" by the organization
Dr. Rebstock spent her entire professional career doing pharmaceutical research, initially with antibiotics and later researched the synthesis of blood-lipid agents and fertility drugs. She died February 17, 2011, in Ann Arbor.