Anslow, Gladys A. (Gladys Amelia)

Anslow (1892-1969). Physicist (ionization of gases by electron collisions and neutron collisions, use of ultraviolet and infrared spectra in study of structure of biologically important molecules). Smith College: A. B. 1914, A. M. 1917; D. Sc. 1950; Yale: Ph. D. 1924. Faculty, Physics Dept., Smith College, 1914-1965: professor, 1936-1960, research professor, 1960-1965, emeritus, 1965-.

Gladys Amelia Anslow graduated from Smith College in 1914 during which time she served as the vice-president of the Physics Club and a member of the Mathematical Society. She was appointed the demonstrator in the Department of Physics at Smith that year. In 1924, Anslow received her Ph.D. from Yale in Physics, allowing her to become an associate professor. In 1936, she became a full Professor.

The first woman to work with the cyclotron ("atomic whirligig to smash the atom") at UC Berkeley, she worked with fellow Smith physicist Dorothy Wrinch on a "spectrochemical study of protein molecules for the eventual production of synthetic foods and drugs" under a grant from the Office of Naval Research. To mark another first, it was the first research grant of its kind at Smith College. During World War II, Anslow was named Chief of Communications and Information Section for Liaison with Civilian Scientists and attached to the armed forces. For this work she won President Truman's Certificate of Merit, one of only three educators to do so.

From her professorship, Anslow progressed to Director of Graduate Study in 1940, professor on the Gates Foundation in 1946, and Professor Emeritus in 1960. During her time working at Smith, Anslow frequently contributed to scientific journals and was a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Academy of for the Advancement of Science, and the American Physical Society, where she was the president of the New England Section. She died in 1969.