Brown papers [Rachel Fuller]

Rachel Fuller Brown was born on November 23, 1898 in Springfield, Massachusetts to George Hamilton Brown and Annie Fuller Brown. After her father left the family when Brown was twelve, her mother worked as a secretary and director of religious education at various churches. Brown entered Mount Holyoke College in 1916 and graduated with an B.A. degree in history and chemistry in 1920. In 1921 she received an M.S. degree in organic chemistry from the University of Chicago. For the next three years Brown taught at the Frances Shimer School in Chicago, Illinois before returning to the University of Chicago to study for her Ph.D. She completed her doctoral research in 1926 and received her Ph.D. in organic chemistry and bacteriology in 1933. In 1926 Brown began her career as a research chemist at the New York State Division of Laboratories and Research in Albany, New York. In 1948 she began collaborating with Dr. Elizabeth Lee Hazen, a microbiologist, to isolate the first antifungal antibiotic for human use. In 1950 they announced the discovery of Nystatin, an antibiotic named for the New York State Laboratory where they worked. The patent process was completed in 1957 and handled by the Research Corporation, a private foundation that worked closely with Brown and Hazen to distribute about $13,000,000 in royalties over the following decades to fund scientific research. Among its other projects, the Brown-Hazen Fund financed grants and fellowships at Mount Holyoke College. Brown retired from the Division of Laboratories and Research in 1968. She was the recipient of many awards and honors, including the Squibb Award in Chemotherapy, honorary degrees from Hobart and William Smith Colleges and Mount Holyoke College, and the Chemical Pioneer Award. She also taught Sunday school for many years at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Albany. Brown died on January 14, 1980 at the age of eighty-one in Albany.