Marjorie J. Vold (October 25, 1913 – November 4, 1991) was an American chemist. Her research focused on

colloids A colloid is a mixture in which one substance consisting of microscopically dispersed insoluble particles is suspended throughout another substance. Some definitions specify that the particles must be dispersed in a liquid, while others exten ...

, and was recognized with a Garvan-Olin Medal from the

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all ...

in 1967.

Early life and education

Marjorie Jean Young was born on October 25, 1913, in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, and moved to Mount Hamilton, California as a child, with her parents

Reynold K. Young Reynold Kenneth Young (October 4, 1886 – February 27, 1973) was a Canadian astronomer. He served as first director of the David Dunlap Observatory from 1935 until 1946. Biography Young was born on October 4, 1886, in the town of Binbrook, O ...

and Wilhelmine E. Aitken. Her grandfather

Robert Grant Aitken Robert Grant Aitken (December 31, 1864 – October 29, 1951) was an American astronomer. Early life and education Robert Grant Aitken was born in Jackson, California, to Scottish immigrant Robert Aitken and Wilhelmina Depinau. Aitken atte ...

cataloged

binary stars A binary star or binary star system is a system of two stars that are gravitationally bound to and in orbit around each other. Binary stars in the night sky that are seen as a single object to the naked eye are often resolved as separate stars us ...

Lick Observatory The Lick Observatory is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by the University of California. It is on the summit of Mount Hamilton (California), Mount Hamilton, in the Diablo Range just east of San Jose, California, United States. The ...

, and her father also worked an astronomer there. Young attended the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...

for undergraduate and graduate work, earning her doctorate in 1936. She did postdoctoral work at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

Career

Vold moved to southern California in 1941. She worked as a chemist for Union Oil Company during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In 1947 she became a research associate at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

, and from 1958 until 1974 she held adjunct professor status there. Her research continued to the end of her life, when she was working from a hospital bed on her final paper on premicelles. In 1964, Vold and her husband were authors of ''Colloidal Chemistry'', a widely used reference text. Marjorie Vold was awarded the

Garvan Medal Garvan may refer to: People * Francis Patrick Garvan (1875–1937), American lawyer, president of the Chemical Foundation * Frank Garvan (born 1955), Australian mathematician * Genevieve Garvan Brady (1880–1938), American philanthropist and Papa ...

by the American Chemical Society for 1967, for her pioneering work in computer models of colloids. She was also named one of the

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

"Women of the Year" for 1966. Vold received 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 ...

to teach in the Netherlands in 1953–54, the only woman chemist to earn that honor between 1940 and 1970. In 1957, Vold was the first woman to address the Indian Institute of Science in

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

, India.

Personal life

Marjorie Young married fellow chemist Robert D. Vold in 1936. They had three children, Mary, Robert and Wylda, all born during World War II. Marjorie Vold was diagnosed with

multiple sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...

in 1958, and used a wheelchair beginning in the early 1960s.Ursula Vils, "Marjorie Vold: Another Laurel on the Family Tree," ''Los Angeles Times'' (September 27, 1966): C1.
/ref> She died from complications of the disease in 1991, age 78.

Early life and education

Career

Personal life

References

Further reading