Vilma Rose (Dalton-Webb) Hunt, 1926-

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)