Janet McCarter Woolley (March 4, 1906 – January 28, 1996) was an American bacteriologist. She was awarded a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

in 1944, for her work in

immunology Immunology is a branch of biology and medicine that covers the study of Immune system, immune systems in all Organism, organisms. Immunology charts, measures, and contextualizes the Physiology, physiological functioning of the immune system in ...

Early life and education

Janet Ruth McCarter was born in 1906 in

Duluth, Minnesota Duluth ( ) is a Port, port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of St. Louis County, Minnesota, St. Louis County. Located on Lake Superior in Minnesota's Arrowhead Region, the city is a hub for cargo shipping. The population ...

, the daughter of William and Mary Blackburn McCarter. She briefly attended

Carleton College Carleton College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1866, the main campus is between Northfield and the approximately Carleton ...

, and earned three degrees (Bachelor of Science in 1930, Master of Science in 1931, and Ph.D. in 1933) at the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

. As a doctoral student, she worked with professor E. G. Hastings on tubercule bacilli, which became the focus of her own work for decades.

Career

In 1944, while she was an assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural Bacteriology at the University of Wisconsin, Janet McCarter was awarded a

for her work in immunology, especially as applied to

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

. That year, more women were awarded Guggenheim Fellowships than in any previous year; Henry Allen Moe, secretary of the Guggenheim Foundation, assured reporters that "It's not due to the war and the fact that there are fewer men. These women would have received fellowships if they had applied in a year when there was no war." Publications by Janet McCarter included: * (with E. G. Hastings) "Misnamed Cultures and Studies of the Tubercle Bacillus" ''Science'' (1932) * (with E. G. Hastings) "The Morphology of the Mycobacteria" ''Journal of Bacteriology'' (1934) * "New Knowledge to Fight Germ of Boils and Food Poisoning" ''The Science News-Letter'' (1937) * (with E. G. Hastings), "The Presence of Avian Tubercle Bacilli in Apparently Pure Cultures of Diphtheroids" ''Journal of Infectious Diseases'' (1939) * (with Elizabeth M. Kanne), "Egg Mediums for the Isolation of All Three Types of Tubercle Bacilli" ''Journal of Infectious Diseases'' (1942) * (with Dorothy M. Powelson), "The Cultivation of Human Tubercle Bacilli on Egg Mediums" ''Journal of Infectious Diseases'' (1944) Janet McCarter married a colleague, biochemical researcher Dilworth Wayne Woolley, in 1945, and collaborated with him on projects, and "played an essential role in his work". In particular, Dr. McCarter Woolley read scientific articles aloud for her husband, who was blind.

Personal life

Janet McCarter Woolley was widowed in 1966, and died in 1996, age 89, in

Bountiful, Utah Bountiful is a city in Davis County, Utah. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 45,762, an eight percent increase over the 2010 figure of 42,552. The city grew rapidly during the suburb growth of the late 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s and ...

."Janet McCarter Woolley"
''Deseret News'' (January 30, 1996): D7.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Woolley, Janet McCarter 1906 births 1996 deaths American immunologists University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty People from Duluth, Minnesota American bacteriologists American women immunologists Women bacteriologists Scientists from Minnesota 20th-century American scientists 20th-century American women scientists 20th-century American women academics