Brief Chronology

  • 1871 --Born in Central City, Colorado (November 9)
  • 1875 --Moved to Denver, Colorado
  • 1878 --Death of her mother, Serena Miner Sabin
  • 1880-84 --Lived with uncle, Albert R. Sabin, near Chicago, Illinois; spent summers with grandparents in Vermont
  • 1885-89 --Attended Vermont Academy in Saxtons River, Vermont
  • 1889 --Entered Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts; majored in Zoology and Mathematics
  • 1893 --BS from Smith College
  • 1893-95 --Taught mathematics at Wolfe Hall private school in Denver
  • 1894 --Spent summer tutoring Ella Strong Denison's children and their cousins at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
  • 1895-96 --Taught Zoology (as substitute instructor) at Smith College
  • 1896 --Spent summer at Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, Massachusetts; Entered Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in the fall
  • 1900 --MD from Johns Hopkins
  • 1900-01 --Internship at Johns Hopkins Hospital
  • 1901 --Published An Atlas of the Medulla and Midbrain (widely used textbook)
  • 1901-25 --Conducted research on the origins of lymphatic system, blood vessels, white blood cells, and connective tissue
  • 1902 --Appointed Assistant Instructor in the Department of Anatomy at Johns Hopkins
  • 1905 --Appointed Associate Professor of Anatomy at Johns Hopkins
  • 1917 --Appointed Professor of Histology in the Department of Anatomy at Johns Hopkins. Sabin was the first woman to hold a full professorship there
  • 1924-26 --First woman to serve as president of American Association of Anatomists
  • 1925 --First woman elected to National Academy of Sciences
  • 1925 --First woman appointed as full member of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research
  • 1926-38 --Headed the Department of Cellular Studies at Rockefeller, led research on pathology of tuberculosis and immune system responses
  • 1929 --Received Annual Achievement Award from Pictorial Review
  • 1931 --Named as one of America's twelve most eminent living women in a Good Housekeeping magazine poll
  • 1934 --Published her biography of her mentor, Franklin Payne Mall
  • 1938 --Retired to Colorado
  • 1939-47 --Served on Advisory Board of the Guggenheim Foundation
  • 1944 --Appointed chair of the Committee on Health of the Governor of Colorado's Post-War Planning Committee
  • 1944-47 --Investigated health services in the Colorado and campaigned for public health legislation to improve the situation. Drafted six health bills later known as the Sabin Program
  • 1945 --Received the Trudeau Medal of the National Tuberculosis Association for her scientific work on tuberculosis pathology
  • 1947 --Colorado legislature passed four of the six "Sabin Bills"
  • 1947-51 --Served as chair of Interim Board of Health and Hospitals of Denver, and later Manager of the Denver Department of Health and Welfare
  • 1948 --Served as president of the Western Branch of the American Public Health Association
  • 1948 --Received American Woman's Association Medal for eminent achievement in the year 1947
  • 1951 --Received the Lasker Foundation's Public Service Award for her work in public health administration
  • 1953 --Died in Denver on October 3rd
  • 1959 --A statue of Sabin was placed in National Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol, formally presented by the State of Colorado