Women in STEM | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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  • Article

    Agnes C. Higgins

    Agnes Charlotte Higgins (née Quamme), CM, nutritionist (born 18 June 1911 in Finley, North Dakota; died 27 August 1985 in Montreal, QC). Higgins began working at the Montreal Diet Dispensary in 1948 and was the Executive Director from 1959 until her retirement in 1981. She is best known for developing the “Higgins Method,” a nutritional program designed to help pregnant women improve their health and deliver healthy babies. Higgins’ influence on nutrition education extended throughout Canada, North America and much of the world. (See also Childbirth in Canada.)

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/TCE_placeholder.png Agnes C. Higgins

  • Article

    Alice Wilson

    Alice Evelyn Wilson, MBE, geologist, paleontologist (born 26 August 1881 in Cobourg, ON; died 15 April 1964 in Ottawa, ON). Educated at the Universities of Toronto and Chicago, Wilson spent her entire professional career, from 1909 to 1946, with the Geological Survey of Canada. She was Canada’s first female geologist and the recognized authority on the fossils and rock of the Ottawa-St. Lawrence Valley. While she repeatedly faced barriers as a woman in a profession dominated by men, Wilson was gradually recognized for her work through various honours, including becoming the first female Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1938.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/Alice Wilson.jpg Alice Wilson

  • Article

    Alice Vibert Douglas

    Allie “Alice” Vibert Douglas (née Douglas Vibert), OC, MBE, astronomer, astrophysicist (born 15 December 1894 in Montreal, QC; died 2 July 1988 in Kingston, ON). Douglas had an accomplished career and taught at McGill University before serving as dean of women and professor of astronomy at Queen's University. She was the first woman to become president of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/alicevibertdouglas/alicevibertdouglas.jpg Alice Vibert Douglas

  • Article

    Amelia Yeomans

    Amelia Yeomans (née LeSueur), physician, social and political reformer, temperance advocate, suffragist and public speaker (born 29 March 1842 in Québec City, Canada East; died 22 April 1913 in Calgary, AB).

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/media/media/fcb5da3c-34b1-44c0-9e8c-f2f182f16501.jpg Amelia Yeomans

  • Article

    Ann Augusta Stowe-Gullen

    Ann Augusta Stowe-Gullen, née Stowe, physician, lecturer, and activist (born 27 July 1857 in Mount Pleasant, ON; died 25 September 1943 in Toronto, ON). The daughter of celebrated suffragist Emily Stowe, Augusta Stowe-Gullen was the first woman to graduate from a Canadian medical school. She was also a passionate activist for women’s franchise.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/media/AnnAugustaStowe-Gullen.jpg Ann Augusta Stowe-Gullen

  • Article

    Anna Marion Hilliard

    Anna Marion Hilliard, physician (b at Morrisburg, Ont 17 June 1902; d at Toronto 15 July 1958).

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    https://development.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 Anna Marion Hilliard

  • Article

    Anne Elizabeth Haviland

    Anne Elizabeth Haviland, née Grubbe, botanist and collector (born 28 September 1818 in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England; died 10 November 1902 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island).

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    https://development.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 Anne Elizabeth Haviland

  • Article

    Beatrice Worsley

    Beatrice (Trixie) Helen Worsley, computer scientist, professor (born 18 October 1921 in Queretaro, Mexico; died 8 May 1972 in Waterloo, Ontario). Worsley was a pioneering researcher in the emerging field of computer science. She conducted research and taught at the University of Toronto and Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. Worsley is considered to be the first female computer scientist in Canada and was honoured with a lifetime achievement award from the Canadian Association of Computer Science in 2014.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/media/new_article_images/BeatriceWorsley/Beatrice_Worsley.jpg Beatrice Worsley

  • Article

    Bonnie Henry

    Bonnie Henry, provincial health officer of British Columbia (2018 to present), epidemiologist, physician (born 1965 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island). Dr. Bonnie Henry is best known for leading British Columbia’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. She has also worked to eradicate polio and to contain Ebola and SARS. Henry is a family care physician and a specialist in preventative medicine. She is the first woman to serve as BC’s provincial health officer. Click here for definitions of key terms used in this article.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/media/new_article_images/BonnieHenry/Bonnie_Henry.jpg Bonnie Henry

  • Article

    Brenda Milner

    Brenda Atkinson Milner (née Langford), CC, GOQ, FRSC, FRS, neuropsychologist (born 15 July 1918 in Manchester, England). Dr. Milner pioneered the field of neuropsychology, combining neurology and psychology. Most notably, she discovered that the part of the brain called the medial temporal lobe (which includes the hippocampus) is critical for the forming of long-term memories. Milner’s later work revealed that the learning of skills involving the combination of vision and movement is not part of the medial temporal lobe system. These discoveries proved that there are different forms of memory in different brain regions. Through her observation of patients, Milner changed forever our understanding of the brain’s learning and memory mechanisms. Click here for definitions of key terms used in this article.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/B_Milner_1956_crop.jpg Brenda Milner

  • List

    Canadians in Space

    In 1983, the National Research Council of Canada created the Canadian Astronaut Program (now run by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA)). Since the first recruitment campaign in 1983, 14 Canadians have completed astronaut training and 9 have participated in missions to space (see Canadian Astronauts). A minority of Canadians have joined orbital or suborbital flights as citizen-astronauts or space tourists. The following list includes information about Canadians who have travelled to space as astronauts, citizen-astronauts or space tourists.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/media/media/10fef17c-ad18-43fc-90fc-db8d1389629a.jpg Canadians in Space

  • Article

    Edith Monture

    Charlotte Edith Anderson Monture (often known simply as Edith Monture), Kanyen’kehà:ka (Mohawk) First World War veteran, registered nurse, (born 10 April 1890 on Six Nations reserve near Brantford, ON; died 3 April 1996 in Ohsweken, ON). Edith Monture was the first Indigenous woman to become a registered nurse in Canada and to gain the right to vote in a Canadian federal election. She was also the first Indigenous woman from Canada to serve in the United States military. Edith broke barriers for Indigenous women in the armed forces and with regards to federal voting rights. A street (Edith Monture Avenue) and park (Edith Monture Park) are named after her in Brantford, Ontario.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/media/Twitter_Cards/Edith Monture 1.jpg Edith Monture

  • Article

    Clara Benson

    Clara Cynthia Benson, professor of chemistry (born in 1875 in Port Hope, ON; died 24 March 1964 in Port Hope). In 1899, Benson became the first woman to graduate in chemistry from the University of Toronto. In 1903, she became one of the first two women awarded a PhD at the university. After graduating with her doctorate, she worked at the University of Toronto’s Lillian Massey School of Domestic Science, becoming one of the university’s first female professors in 1920. (See also Home Economics.) A capable teacher who stimulated research and was a friend to her students, Benson taught at the school until her retirement in 1945. The Benson Building at the University of Toronto was named in recognition of her efforts to obtain better athletic facilities for women students. (See also: The History of Canadian Women in Sport; Women and Sport.)

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/media/media/670e0d84-e6f4-4c7b-b837-6259f38b5921.jpg Clara Benson

  • Article

    Donna Strickland

    Donna Theo Strickland, CC, physicist (born 27 May 1959 in Guelph, ON). Donna Strickland is a pioneering physicist, known for her work on ultrafast lasers. She is currently a professor of physics at the University of Waterloo. She has authored more than 90 publications and has made seminal contributions to the field of laser technology. In 2018, Strickland was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for her work on the development of laser technology.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/donnastrickland/donnastrickland.jpg Donna Strickland

  • Article

    Elizabeth Bagshaw

    Elizabeth Catherine Bagshaw, physician (born 18 October 1881 near Cannington, ON; died 5 January 1982 in Hamilton, ON). Bagshaw had a successful 70-year medical practice, specializing in family medicine and obstetrics (see Childbirth in Canada). She is perhaps best known for her work as the medical director of Canada’s first birth control clinic in Hamilton, Ontario (see History of Birth Control in Canada).

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    https://development.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 Elizabeth Bagshaw