Geraldine Pittman Woods, Neuroembryologist & Advocate

Geraldine Pittman Woods was an African American Neurombryologist, who devoted much of her life to providing access to high quality STEM-based programs in HBCUs for people of color. She was born on January 29, 1921 in West Palm Beach, Florida. In fourth grade, Woods attended Industrial High School, the only high school that allowed black children to attend, and neither of her parents graduated high school. Woods adored her mother and father, and she said, “Since [my mother] was always aware that she never had the opportunity to get an education, she wanted me, as her only child, to have all the education I hoped to desire.” In the fall of 1940, Geraldine’s mother became ill and was hospitalized at John Hopkins. To be closer to her mother, Gerldine transferred to Howard University where she discovered her passion for biology and other sciences related. After graduating from Howard University, Woods went on to Radcliffe College and Harvard University’s partnership program to obtain a Masters of Science in 1943 and a Ph.D. in neuroembryology in 1945.

She served a four-years on the Personnel Board of the California Department of Employment in 1963 and became a member of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) and the Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Woods was also the first African American assigned to the National Advisory General Medical Services (NAGMS) Council, where much of her work was focused on developing research and STEM-related programs for people of color. Woods received various awards such as the Distinguished Leadership Achievement Award from the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education in 1987, the Howard University Achievement Award in 1980, the Mary Church Terrell Award of Delta Sigma Theta, and the Scroll of Merit of the National Medical Association in 1979. Furthermore, she received two degrees at Bennett College and Meharry Medical College.

Overall, Woods left a remarkable legacy and facilitated so many opportunities for young POC to pursue science and technology courses in college beyond her own lifetime. In 1991, she left her work because of her deteriorating health, and on December 27, 1999 in Washington, D.C, she died at the age of 78, due to cancer-related complications. Today, many universities have expanded their research divisions based off of Woods’s extraordinary programs.

by Jaylin Osborne

References

Osgood, H. (2018). Geraldine Pittman Woods (1921–1999). Retrieved 22 July 2020, from https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/people-african-american-history/woods-geraldine-pittman-1921–1999/

Geraldine Pittman Woods. People Pill. Retrieved 22 July 2020, from https://peoplepill.com/people/geraldine-pittman-woods/

Barnes, Bart. (2000). Geraldine Woods, 78, Dies. The Washington Post. Retrieved 22 July 2020, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2000/01/12/geraldine-woods-78-dies/168f32d5-6fa1-417c-92a9-c8604b667abf/

Barnard and Briggs Halls, Radcliffe College, Cambridge, Mass., Digital Commonwealth, https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/search/commonwealth:g158bm43d