Marie Maynard Daly

Biochemist

• Born: April 16, 1921
• Birthplace: New York, New York
• Died: October 28, 2003
• Place of death: New York, New York

Also known as: Marie Maynard Daly Clark

Education: Queens College (now part of the City University of New York), New York University, Columbia University

Significance: The first African American woman in the United States to earn a PhD in chemistry, Marie Maynard Daly did groundbreaking work on cholesterol and its effect on the cardiovascular system.

Background

The eldest of three children born to Ivan C. Daly, an immigrant from the West Indies, and Helen Page, a native New Yorker, Marie Maynard Daly was born on April 16, 1921, in Queens, New York, where she was raised in the Corona neighborhood. Her parents promoted learning, and Daly attended the all-female Hunter College High School, a magnet school for gifted students. She excelled at school, especially in science. While in high school, she decided to make a career in science. Her teachers encouraged her interest in science and supplemented her regular coursework with college-level chemistry material. Her parents encouraged her to pursue her interest in science and go to college. Her father had studied chemistry at Cornell University after immigrating to the United States but had dropped out when he was unable to pay the tuition, and subsequently worked as a postal clerk.

Daly enrolled at Queens College, a newly opened college with free tuition for New York City residents. She lived at home to reduce expenses and worked as a lab assistant at the college. In 1942, she graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry. One year later, she graduated with a master’s degree in chemistry from New York University. She then worked as a chemistry tutor at Queens College for a year to earn money for an advanced degree.

With the aid of a fellowship, Daly began her doctoral studies at Columbia University in 1944. She studied under Dr. Mary L. Caldwell, whose own research focused on pancreatic amylase, an enzyme that digests carbohydrates and produces glucose. Under her tutelage, Daly also researched pancreatic amylase and its role in digestion. Her dissertation was titled, “A Study of the Products Formed by the Action of Pancreatic Amylase on Corn Starch.” In 1947, Daly completed her doctoral research and received her PhD in chemistry the next year.

Career as a Biochemist

After completing the research for her PhD, Daly taught physical science at Howard University from 1947 to 1948 while pursuing additional research on the side. In 1948, she joined the Rockefeller Institute as a research assistant, funded by a grant from the American Cancer Society. She worked with Dr. Alfred E. Mirsky, who was conducting research on protein synthesis, nucleotides, amino acids, and the metabolic activity of cell nuclei, among other topics. Daly made several discoveries about nucleic acids, including identifying the properties of histones and the composition of some nucleic acids. Her research also contributed to an understanding of the differences in protein metabolism in fasting and eating states.

Daly moved to Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1955, where she taught biochemistry. She also joined the nearby Goldwater Memorial Hospital as a research associate, where she worked with Dr. Quentin B. Deming on cholesterol and heart attack research. Daly studied the metabolism of the arterial wall and how it changed with age. This research led to her discovery that high cholesterol levels were a significant contributor to hardening of the arteries, or blocked arteries, a leading cause of heart disease. She also studied how smoking and sugar affected the heart.

In 1960, Daly became an assistant professor of biochemistry at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University. She was promoted to associate professor in 1971. Deming also moved to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and the two continued to collaborate in their research. Daly’s early research during this period focused on the effects of hypertension and aging on the circulatory system. She also researched the effect of diet and the endocrine system on hypertension. Her later research involved the study of creatine and its uptake by muscle cells and how cigarette smoke affected the lungs.

Daly retired in 1986. On October 28, 2003, she died in New York.

Impact

As one of the few black women in the 1940s to go to college—and the first black woman to earn a PhD in chemistry—Marie Maynard Daly wanted to make it easier for other underrepresented youth to pursue science in higher education. She was an advocate for diversity in higher education and worked on programs to increase enrollment of minority students majoring in science in graduate school. While at Albert Einstein College, she mentored and trained many African American graduate and medical students. Two years after she retired, she established a scholarship in honor of her father for African American students to study chemistry and physics at Queens College.

Personal Life

Daly and Dr. Vincent Clark, a physician at Harlem Hospital, married in 1961. After she retired, Daly enjoyed her dogs, gardened, played the flute, and taught herself the guitar.

Bibliography

Brown, Jeannette E. “Marie Maynard Daly.” African American Women Chemists. Oxford UP, 2012, pp. 34–41.

Brown, Mitchell C. “Marie Maynard Daly: Biochemist.” The Faces of Science: African Americans in the Sciences, 25 Nov. 2007, webfiles.uci.edu/mcbrown/display/daly.html. Accessed 30 Dec. 2018.

Collins, Sibrina Nichelle. “Unsung: Marie Maynard Daly.” Undark, 7 Aug. 2017, undark.org/article/unsung-marie-maynard-daly-women-stem/. Accessed 30 Dec. 2018.

DeBakcsy, Dale. “Marie Maynard Daly (1921–2003), America’s First Black Woman Chemist.” Women You Should Know, 28 Feb. 2018, womenyoushouldknow.net/marie-maynard-daly-first-black-woman-chemist/. Accessed 30 Dec. 2018.

Irwin, Demetria. “Dr. Marie Maynard Daly, a Trailblazer in Medical Research.” Ebony, 7 Mar. 2016, www.ebony.com/black-history/marie-maynard-daly-ebonywhm/#axzz4MdFJbNYu. Accessed 30 Dec. 2018.

“Marie Maynard Daly.” Science History Institute, 9 Nov. 2018, www.sciencehistory.org/historical-profile/marie-maynard-daly. Accessed 30 Dec. 2018.