Brief Chronology

  • 1902 --Born Eleanor McClintock in Hartford, Connecticut, but soon became known as Barbara (June 16)
  • 1908 --McClintock family moved to Brooklyn, New York
  • 1919 --Graduated from Erasmus Hall High School, Brooklyn
  • 1919-25 --Earned undergraduate (1923) and graduate (1925) degrees in botany, Cornell University
  • 1927 --Received PhD (botany), Cornell University
  • 1927-31 --Instructor and researcher in maize genetics, Cornell University
  • 1931 --Published (with H. Creighton) article on genetic crossing-over in maize
  • 1931 --Fellow, National Research Council; conducted research at Cornell, University of Missouri at Columbia, and California Institute of Technology
  • 1933-34 --Fellow, Guggenheim Memorial Foundation; conducted research at Kaiser Wilhelm Institute, Berlin, and Botanical Institute, Freiburg (Germany)
  • 1934-36 --Researcher, Cornell University
  • 1936-40 --Assistant Professor of Genetics, University of Missouri at Columbia
  • 1941-67 --Researcher in Genetics, Carnegie Institution of Washington Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island, New York
  • 1944 --Elected to the National Academy of Sciences
  • 1945 --Elected President, Genetics Society of America
  • 1951 --Gave controversial lecture at Cold Spring Harbor Symposium on her theories of "controlling elements" in maize
  • 1957-66 --Embarked on series of research trips to Latin America to study different races of maize
  • 1967 --Distinguished Service Award, Carnegie Institution of Washington; stayed on as Distinguished Service Member until 1992
  • 1971 --Received National Medal of Science from President Richard M. Nixon
  • 1981 --Recipient, MacArthur Foundation Grant (inaugural recipient, lifetime award)
  • 1981 --Recipient, Albert and Mary Lasker Award
  • 1983 --Received Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
  • 1992 --Died in Huntington, New York (September 2)