"Nobody, but nobody, is going to stop breathing on me!"
--Dr. Virginia Apgar, ca. 1950s, explaining why she kept basic resuscitation equipment with her at all times.

It has been said that every baby born in a modern hospital anywhere in the world is looked at first through the eyes of Dr. Virginia Apgar. Her simple, rapid method for assessing newborn viability, the "Apgar score," has longbeen standard practice. Developed in the early 1950s and quickly adopted by obstetric teams, the method reduced infant mortality and laid the foundations of neonatology. While best known for this achievement, Apgar was also a leader in the emerging field of anesthesiology during the 1940s and in the new field of teratology (the study of birth defects) after 1960. [The Virginia Apgar Papers]

Virginia Apgar was brilliant surgeon, yet discouraged by her mentor from practicing in that field because of his belief that women did not fare well [source]; so, Dr. Apgar joined the first residency program in anesthesiology, and became an expert in that field; eventually combining her expertises in both surgery and residency to innovate radically and successfully in the field of neonatology. Dr. Apgar was the first woman at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons to be named a full professor [source]. After ten years in that post, she completed a master's degree in public health at Johns Hopkins University. Apgar was approached by the National Foundation-March of Dimes in the spring of 1959, and offered the position of chief of its new Division of Congenital Malformations. She accepted and eventually served also  Director of Basic Medical Research (1967-1968) and Vice-President for Medical Affairs (1971-1974) [source]

Right, Virginia Apgar, age 20.

Below, Virginia Apgar teaching at Columbia obstetric anesthesiology at Columbia.

Reader reaction to this brief commemoration can be found here.

Maggie Walker, the first woman to charter a bank in the United States:

"In 1903 she founded the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank. Mrs. Walker served as the bank's first president, which earned her the recognition of being the first woman to charter a bank in the United States . Later she agreed to serve as chairman of the board of directors when the bank merged with two other Richmond banks to become The Consolidated Bank and Trust Company. The bank thrives today as the oldest continually African American-operated bank in the United States. Its headquarters are currently located across the street from its original site at the corner of First and Marshall streets in Richmond." [source: National Park Service ]

For more from this document go here , to the website of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.

Women's Empowerment Is Key To Progress

Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Town Hall Meeting at Ewha Women's University
Seoul, South Korea
February 20, 2009

SECRETARY CLINTON: Good afternoon. (cheers and applause) Thank you so much, President Lee. I am honored to be here at this great university. I wish to thank also Chairperson (inaudible) and the more than 107,000 alumni at this great school. Standing up with me was our Ambassador Kathy Stephens, who has told me that more than 50 graduates of Ewha Womans University work at U.S. Embassy Seoul. We are extremely proud of the education they have received here.

It is a great privilege to stand here before you on the stage of the largest women’s university in the world. And I came to – (applause) – this university as a matter of destiny, because you see, Ewha and I share a connection. (Cheers and applause.) I am a Methodist, my family on my father’s side comes from Scranton, Pennsylvania – (applause) – and I must say that Wellesley College is a sister college for Ewha University. (Applause.) So being an honorary fellow seems right at home today.
I also note that in this audience are some Korean-American friends from New York and California. There are several Wellesley graduates whom I met backstage as well – (applause) – and an extraordinary number of talented young women, faculty members, and administrators.
Learning about this great university and the role that you have played in advancing the status of women made me think about so many of the women throughout history who are inspirations to me: Madame Scranton, someone who started teaching one young woman, and from her dedication and hard work came this university; Eleanor Roosevelt, a pioneering First Lady of the United States and a voice for democracy around the world, and one of the driving forces behind the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights. Now, that was more than 50 years ago, but just a few weeks ago, one of Korea’s most accomplished leaders, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, called on all nations worldwide to push for more progress on women’s equality. And I want to thank the Secretary General – (applause) – because he said that women’s empowerment is the key to progress in developing nations.
People who think hard about our future come to the same conclusion, that women and others on society’s margins must be afforded the right to fully participate in society, not only because it is morally right, but because it is necessary to strengthen our security and prosperity.
Before I came out on stage, I met a number of young women who are in political office here in the Republic of Korea, and I hope I was looking at a future president of this great nation. (Applause.)

[Secretary Clinton's remarks continued here.]

For further commentary, see Heidi Li's Potpourri.

Source: Cambridge University

Cambridge appoints first female University Librarian

Mrs Anne Jarvis (Murray) has been appointed University Librarian at Cambridge University Library – the first female to hold the post in its 650 year history.

Currently Deputy Librarian, Anne, pictured, will replace Peter Fox, who steps down after fifteen years in charge.

Cambridge University Library is home to more than eight million books and volumes and is one of only six Legal Deposit libraries in the UK and Ireland - entitling it to a free copy of every book, journal, map and music published in the United Kingdom.

Highlights of the University Library's special collections include the papers of Isaac Newton, an archive of Charles Darwin's correspondence, archives of the Royal Greenwich Observatory, the library of the Royal Commonwealth Society and a copy of the Gutenberg Bible from 1455, the earliest European example of a book produced using moveable type.

Anne, aged 46, said: "Cambridge is already one of the world's great research libraries. I look forward both to building on this success and to an exciting future in which the University Library will play a leading role in providing innovative services in a rapidly changing information landscape."

Anne has been Deputy Librarian at Cambridge University Library since 2000. Her main professional interests include emerging information technologies, succession planning, change management and digital preservation.

As Deputy Librarian her role has been to ensure that future information trends are identified, future service needs are anticipated and the highest quality service standards are delivered. Key to this, she believes, is nurturing and developing a highly motivated, knowledgeable and skilled staff.

A graduate in history of Trinity College Dublin, Anne's library career began in special libraries and included posts at FÁS, the Training and Employment Authority in Dublin, Ireland, and Coopers and Lybrand in London, England.