Ruth Hubbard
Encyclopedia
Ruth Hubbard is Professor
Emerita
of Biology
at Harvard University
, where she was the first woman to hold a tenured professorship position in biology.
, Austria
and escaped Nazism
as a teenager. With her family, she moved to the Boston
area and she became a biologist. She married Frank Hubbard in 1942. She graduated from Radcliffe College
in 1944, earning an A.B. degree in biochemical sciences.
As a research fellow at Harvard in the years after World War II
, she worked under George Wald
, investigating the biochemistry
of retinal
and retinol
. Wald shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
in 1967 for his discoveries about how the eye works. She received a Ph.D. in biology from Radcliffe in 1950, and in 1952, a Guggenheim fellowship at the Carlsberg Laboratory
in Copenhagen
, Denmark
. She and Hubbard divorced in 1951.
During her active research career from the 1940s to the 1960s, she made important contributions to the understanding of the biochemistry and photochemistry
of vision
in vertebrates and invertebrates. She and Wald married in 1958. In 1967, she and Wald shared the Paul Karrer Medal for their work in this area.
Hubbard and Wald became the parents of two children: a son, musician and music historian Elijah Wald
, and a daughter, Deborah Wald. She also has two grandchildren.
and the women's liberation movement
led her to change her priorities. Also, after being promoted in 1973 from what she called the "typical women's ghetto" of "research associate and lecturer" positions to a tenured faculty position at Harvard, she felt increased freedom to pursue new interests.
She became known as a strong critic of sociobiology
. Geneticist Richard Lewontin
has said, "No one has been a more influential critic of the biological theory of women's inequality than Ruth Hubbard." In a 2006 essay entitled "Race and Genes," she wrote:
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
Emerita
Emeritus
Emeritus is a post-positive adjective that is used to designate a retired professor, bishop, or other professional or as a title. The female equivalent emerita is also sometimes used.-History:...
of Biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, where she was the first woman to hold a tenured professorship position in biology.
Biography
Hubbard was born Ruth Hoffmann in ViennaVienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
and escaped Nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
as a teenager. With her family, she moved to the Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
area and she became a biologist. She married Frank Hubbard in 1942. She graduated from Radcliffe College
Radcliffe College
Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was the coordinate college for Harvard University. It was also one of the Seven Sisters colleges. Radcliffe College conferred joint Harvard-Radcliffe diplomas beginning in 1963 and a formal merger agreement with...
in 1944, earning an A.B. degree in biochemical sciences.
As a research fellow at Harvard in the years after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, she worked under George Wald
George Wald
George Wald was an American scientist who is best known for his work with pigments in the retina. He won a share of the 1967 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Haldan Keffer Hartline and Ragnar Granit.- Research :...
, investigating the biochemistry
Biochemistry
Biochemistry, sometimes called biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes in living organisms, including, but not limited to, living matter. Biochemistry governs all living organisms and living processes...
of retinal
Retinal
Retinal, also called retinaldehyde or vitamin A aldehyde, is one of the many forms of vitamin A . Retinal is a polyene chromophore, and bound to proteins called opsins, is the chemical basis of animal vision...
and retinol
Retinol
Retinol is one of the animal forms of vitamin A. It is a diterpenoid and an alcohol. It is convertible to other forms of vitamin A, and the retinyl ester derivative of the alcohol serves as the storage form of the vitamin in animals....
. Wald shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine administered by the Nobel Foundation, is awarded once a year for outstanding discoveries in the field of life science and medicine. It is one of five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, in his will...
in 1967 for his discoveries about how the eye works. She received a Ph.D. in biology from Radcliffe in 1950, and in 1952, a Guggenheim fellowship at the Carlsberg Laboratory
Carlsberg Laboratory
The Carlsberg Laboratory in Copenhagen, Denmark was created in 1875 by J. C. Jacobsen, the founder of the Carlsberg brewery, for the sake of advancing biochemical knowledge, especially relating to brewing. It featured a Department of Chemistry and a Department of Physiology...
in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
. She and Hubbard divorced in 1951.
During her active research career from the 1940s to the 1960s, she made important contributions to the understanding of the biochemistry and photochemistry
Photochemistry
Photochemistry, a sub-discipline of chemistry, is the study of chemical reactions that proceed with the absorption of light by atoms or molecules.. Everyday examples include photosynthesis, the degradation of plastics and the formation of vitamin D with sunlight.-Principles:Light is a type of...
of vision
Visual system
The visual system is the part of the central nervous system which enables organisms to process visual detail, as well as enabling several non-image forming photoresponse functions. It interprets information from visible light to build a representation of the surrounding world...
in vertebrates and invertebrates. She and Wald married in 1958. In 1967, she and Wald shared the Paul Karrer Medal for their work in this area.
Hubbard and Wald became the parents of two children: a son, musician and music historian Elijah Wald
Elijah Wald
Indeed, his first book was a collaboration with his biologist mother entitled Exploding the Gene Myth, in which they wrote that "The myth of the all-powerful gene is based on flawed science that discounts the environment in which we and our genes exist." "There are no definitive histories," he...
, and a daughter, Deborah Wald. She also has two grandchildren.
Social commentary and political activity
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Hubbard's interests shifted away from research science toward social and political issues. In her book The Politics of Women's Biology, she wrote that she had been a "devout scientist" from 1947 until the late 1960s, but the Vietnam WarVietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
and the women's liberation movement
Women's liberation movement
The Women's Liberation Movement was a political movement, born in the 1960s from Second-Wave Feminism.It generated mythology almost before it was born such as bra burning - and it was allegedly a matter of deep concern to those within it at the time that its history would allegedly be rewritten...
led her to change her priorities. Also, after being promoted in 1973 from what she called the "typical women's ghetto" of "research associate and lecturer" positions to a tenured faculty position at Harvard, she felt increased freedom to pursue new interests.
She became known as a strong critic of sociobiology
Sociobiology
Sociobiology is a field of scientific study which is based on the assumption that social behavior has resulted from evolution and attempts to explain and examine social behavior within that context. Often considered a branch of biology and sociology, it also draws from ethology, anthropology,...
. Geneticist Richard Lewontin
Richard Lewontin
Richard Charles "Dick" Lewontin is an American evolutionary biologist, geneticist and social commentator. A leader in developing the mathematical basis of population genetics and evolutionary theory, he pioneered the notion of using techniques from molecular biology such as gel electrophoresis to...
has said, "No one has been a more influential critic of the biological theory of women's inequality than Ruth Hubbard." In a 2006 essay entitled "Race and Genes," she wrote:
It is beyond comprehension, in this century which has witnessed holocausts of ethnic, racial, and religious extermination in many parts of our planet, perpetrated by peoples of widely different cultural and political affiliations and beliefs, that educated persons—scholars and popularizers alike—can come forward to argue, as though in complete innocence and ignorance of our recent history, that nothing could be more interesting and worthwhile than to sort out the “racial” or “ethnic” components of our thoroughly mongrelized species so as to ascertain the root identity of each and everyone of us. And where to look for that identity if not in our genes?
Articles
- Ruth Hubbard and George Wald (1952), Cis-trans Isomers of Vitamin A and Retinene in the Rhodopsin System, The Journal of General PhysiologyThe Journal of General PhysiologyThe Journal of General Physiology is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the Rockefeller University Press. The journal covers biological, chemical, or physical mechanisms of broad physiological significance. The major emphasis is on physiological problems at the cellular and molecular...
, Vol 36, 269-315 - Ruth Hubbard, Robert I. Gregerman, and George Wald (1953), Geometrical Isomers of Retinene, The Journal of General PhysiologyThe Journal of General PhysiologyThe Journal of General Physiology is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the Rockefeller University Press. The journal covers biological, chemical, or physical mechanisms of broad physiological significance. The major emphasis is on physiological problems at the cellular and molecular...
, Vol 36, 415-429 - Ruth Hubbard and Robert C. C. St. George (1958), The Rhodopsin System of the Squid, The Journal of General Physiology 1958 January 20; 41(3): 501–528.
- Ruth Hubbard and Allen Kropf (1958), The Action of Light on Rhodopsin, Proceedings National Academy of Sciences U S A. 1958 February; 44(2): 130–139.
- Ruth Hubbard,Deric Bownds, and Tôru Yoshizawa (1965), The Chemistry of Visual Photoreception, Cold Spring Harbor Symposium on Quantitative Biology 1965. 30:301-315
- Ruth Hubbard (1988), Science, Facts and Feminism, Hypatia, v. 3, no. 1 (Spring 1988)
- R. Hubbard and R.C. Lewontin (1996), Pitfalls of Genetic Testing, New England Journal of MedicineNew England Journal of MedicineThe New England Journal of Medicine is an English-language peer-reviewed medical journal published by the Massachusetts Medical Society. It describes itself as the oldest continuously published medical journal in the world.-History:...
, Volume 334:1192-1194, Number 18, 2 May, 1996 - Ruth Hubbard (2006), Race & Genes, in Is Race Real?, a web forum sponsored by the Social Science Research CouncilSocial Science Research CouncilThe Social Science Research Council is a U.S.-based independent nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing research in the social sciences and related disciplines...
, June 7, 2006
Books
- Ruth Hubbard (1990), The Politics of Women's Biology, Rutgers University Press. ISBN 0813514908, ISBN 978-0813514901
- Ruth Hubbard and Elijah Wald (1993), Exploding the Gene Myth: How Genetic Information Is Produced and Manipulated by Scientists, Physicians, Employers, Insurance Companies, Educators, and Law Enforcers, Beacon Press. ISBN 0807004316, ISBN 978-0807004319
- Ruth Hubbard (1995), Profitable Promises: Essays on Women, Science & Health, Common Courage Press. ISBN 1567510418, ISBN 978-1567510416
External links
- Exploding the Gene Myth A Conversation with Ruth Hubbard
- Ruth Hubbard interview (multimedia stream), WGBHWGBH-TVWGBH-TV, channel 2, is a non-commercial educational public television station located in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. WGBH-TV is a member station of the Public Broadcasting Service , and produces more than two-thirds of PBS's national prime time television programming...
Science Luminaries series, 2007 - Episode 19 - Ruth Hubbard, in "How to Think About Science" series, Canadian Broadcasting CorporationCanadian Broadcasting CorporationThe Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...