by Deann Gayman | University Communication
Rachel Lloyd’s story was largely forgotten for nearly 100 years.
During what Robert E. Knoll heralded as the “Golden Era” of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in his book, “Prairie University,” Lloyd was a faculty member among giants whose names now dot the campus, and her tenure was relatively short.
But, as Mark Griep has found through two decades of research, Lloyd deserves her own renown for the indelible mark she made on the school as well as the fledgling agriculture of the state. She was the first American woman to earn a doctorate in chemistry, and was instrumental to Nebraska’s early economic growth.
Since first hearing of her role in the department of chemistry during a passing conversation in 1997, Griep has researched and shared Lloyd’s story far and wide, even going so far as to commission the removal of the Avery Hall time capsule in 2014 to unearth historical materials about her. Recently, his efforts to bring Lloyd’s story back in national prominence garnered him a Champion of History award from History Nebraska.
Griep, professor of chemistry, has given more than a dozen talks at conferences, other colleges, on campus and in the Lincoln community sharing Lloyd’s life and work.
“Chemists just love this story, and I think it’s amazing,” he said.
Read more at:
https://news.unl.edu/newsrooms/today/article/decades-of-research-brings-rachel-lloyd-back-to-the-fore/
More details at: https://news.unl.edu/newsrooms/today/article/decades-of-research-brings-rachel-lloyd-back-to-the-fore/