Vilma Rose (Dalton-Webb) Hunt, 1926-

Dates:
Birth 1926

Biographical notes:

Vilma Rose Hunt, dentist, scientist, researcher, writer, environmental activist and feminist, was born on November 15, 1926, in Sydney, Australia, the daughter of Margaret Rose (Lynch) and William Dalton-Webb. When she was seven years old the family moved to Kempsey, New South Wales, where she attended public school and was an outstanding student and athlete. After graduating from high school (1942) she did a post-graduate year and volunteer war work until she was old enough to serve in the women's branch of the Australian Air Force.

In 1946 VRH was awarded a Commonwealth Scholarship and entered the University of Sydney Dental School. She graduated in 1950 and practiced in New Zealand for two years before moving to the United States. At the Forsyth Dental Infirmary (Boston, Mass.) VRH met Edward Eyre Hunt; they were married in 1952 and had four children. EEH died in 1991.

In 1985, VRH wrote, "My research for the past 25 years has dealt with radium, polonium and radiation standards from the vantage points of radiation chemistry, radiation biology and occupational health." Her busy professional life is reflected in the following chronology.

1950 Bachelor of Dental Surgery (B.D.S.), University of Sydney 1950 1952 Junior Dental Officer, Department of Health, New Zealand Private practice 1952 Gave her first public lecture on dental training, Harvard University 1952 1953 Intern, Forsyth Dental Infirmary, Boston, Mass. 1955 1956 Instructor, Human Anatomy and General Biology, Endicott Junior College, Beverly, Mass. 1958 A.M. in Physical Anthropology, Radcliffe College 1961 1963 Scholar, Radcliffe Institute for Independent Study (later Bunting Institute) 1962 1966 Research Fellow, then Research Associate, in Physiology, Harvard School of Public Health 1963 Completed summer sessions in radiation biology, Argonne National Laboratory, Illinois 1964 Elected to Phi Beta Kappa (honoris causa) 1966 1969 Assistant Fellow, then Research Associate (Physiology), John B. Pierce Foundation Laboratory, New Haven, Conn. 1967 1969 Assistant Professor of Environmental Health, Yale University School of Medicine 1969 1972 Assistant, then Associate, Professor of Environmental Health, Pennsylvania State University (PSU) 1972 Granted tenure at PSU Did research in New Guinea 1976 W.K. Kellogg Foundation Fellow 1978 1979 On Science Advisory Board, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Washington, D.C. 1979 1981 Deputy Assistant Administrator for Health Research, Office of Research and Development, EPA 1982 1985 Professor of Environmental Health, PSU 1984 Mellon Research Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1985 Retired from PSU National Endowment for the Humanities award 1985 Consultant in environmental and occupational health Visiting Lecturer, Harvard School of Public Health, Environmental Science and Physiology Adjunct Faculty, University of Massachusetts at Lowell, Work Environment Laboratory Adjunct Faculty, National University of Taiwan School of Medicine

During these years, and after her retirement, VRH also travelled widely in the U.S. and other countries, researching, lecturing, consulting, serving on panels, and presenting papers; was active in professional, feminist, and environmental organizations; and published extensively. More biographical information is available in this collection.

From the guide to the Papers, 1952-1993, (Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute)

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