First Lady of American Science

The U.S. Postal Service unveiled a Gerty Cori stamp at the School of Medicine on March 17. The stamp was one of four new stamps honoring American scientists. In 1947, Cori (1896–1957), a professor of biological chemistry at the University, became the first American woman to win the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. She shared the award with her husband, Carl, with whom she made important discoveries, including a new derivative of glucose. The stamp is unique in that it contains an error: In reproducing Cori’s formula, the artist attached one of the lines to the wrong element.