Ellen (Kovner) Silbergeld, 1945-

Environmental toxicologist and research scientist Ellen (Kovner) Silbergeld was born in Washington, D.C., in 1945 and has degrees in history from Vassar College (A.B. 1967) and in environmental engineering sciences from Johns Hopkins University (Ph.D. 1972). Her professional interests include neuropharmacology and toxicology, and environmental risk assessment. In particular, EKS has studied the effects of dioxins and PCBs on humans, and an interest in lead poisoning has spanned her career. The character "Hester Silver" in Janice Kaplan's A Morning Affair (New York: New American Library, 1989) was based on EKS.

EKS has been an activist from the late 1960s. She was an intern--one of "Nader's Raiders"--at the Center for the Study of Responsive Law, and joined the Center for Christian Renewal, a group of disaffected Catholics protesting racism in the church, "oppressive" teachings (re: birth control, divorce, etc.) incompatible with modern life, and the war in Vietnam. She was detained for attempting to pass out leaflets at a mass in 1969, but charges were dropped. That same year, as secretary and program officer at the National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council, she helped organize a meeting for staff to observe the nationwide moratorium called by the Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam. In 1971, EKS was arrested twice as a result of her participation in "Mayday" protests on May 3rd and 5th following the Federal Employees for Peace rally in Lafayette Square. Settlements from this action were reached, only in 1980, as a result of a class-action suit brought by the ACLU.

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