July 16, 2024, is the 100th birthday of Mary Louise Hanson Pritchard, a prominent parasitologist at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Her life achievements and contributions to the scientific community are exceptionally numerous and of the highest esteem.
Pritchard began her scientific career at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where she received a BSc in Business Administration with Distinction, majoring in Economics, Accounting, French, and Zoology. During her undergraduate studies, she received many prestigious academic awards and was president of several Greek organizations including Phi Betta Kappa and Phi Sigma Iota.
During her master’s career, Pritchard worked in Harold Manter’s laboratory, studying the taxonomy and systematics of digeneans from Bermuda fishes. Upon completion her graduate studies, she received the Wolcott Prize, recognizing her as an outstanding Department of Zoology graduate.
Mary Louise Pritchard is an inspiration to all; she is an incredible role model particularly to women in STEM. Despite facing an exorbitant amount of prejudice, Pritchard had an exceptional independent career. As Pritchard discovered shortly after completing her master’s work, STEM departments did not recommend women for doctoral programs at that time. This biased system could have stopped Mary Louise Pritchard from developing her career any further, but she was remarkably unfazed. Without hesitation, Pritchard used the money granted to her by the Wolcott Prize to conduct research in Honolulu, becoming the first person to collect parasites from Hawaiian fishes. With her incredible research accomplishments in hand, no one could deny Pritchard’s standing in the scientific community; she became an integral part of the University of Nebraska, and specifically Harold Manter’s research program.
In 1968, Pritchard became associate curator of parasitology of the University of Nebraska State Museum and assistant professor in the Department of Zoology. Not only did she conduct her own original research, garnering an impressive collection of parasites for study, but she also collaborated with many of the Manter lab research and graduate students. She developed the accession record system, which became the foundation for the first computerized accession system available for any parasitology collection In 1980, she was awarded a long overdue tenure and full professorship by the University of Nebraska. In 1971, the Harold W. Manter Laboratory was established as the division of parasitology at the University of Nebraska State Museum. As the first curator, by 1981 Pritchard had evolved the Manter research program to be one of only four National Resource Centers for Parasitology. Between 1972 and 1988, her laboratory published more than 125 works.
It is no surprise that Pritchard’s work quickly became nationally and internationally recognized. Her contributions to parasitology are unmatched. She has been recognized by the Association for Systematic Collections and the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections. Additionally, the Manter Lab and University of Nebraska State Museum received accreditation from the American Association of Museums, an honor granted to only 10% of all museums. In 1994, Pritchard was awarded The President’s Special Award for Distinguished Service. In a heartfelt article published in the Journal of Parasitology in 1994, Mary Louise Pritchard’s work and contributions to the field were honored by Daniel Brooks, a former graduate student of her lab. In the article, Pritchard’s immense contributions to science were recognized and her integrity and benevolent reputation as a mentor were lauded. Brooks, from the Department of Zoology at University of Toronto, stated the Pritchard always encouraged her students to explore novel areas of research to push the boundaries of science. She promoted the successes of her students and always showed strength of character and willingness to work in her mentees.
Despite enduring a multitude of criticism from a system out to undervalue her skills simply for being a woman in STEM, Mary Louise Pritchard has scaled through with the utmost integrity and strength of character. Determined to push the boundaries of the system, she has left an incredible legacy in STEM. Mary Louise Pritchard’s 100 years of life, service, and science will be celebrated at the campus of University of Nebraska-Lincoln from July 16th-18th, 2024. Mary Louise Pritchard should be commemorated by all of us for her incredible impact on pushing the boundaries of a flawed system, and her amazing scientific research that has made a lasting impact on the way science is conducted.
Cassandra Sedler is a chemistry PhD student at Temple University. She does research in organic- synthesis- methodology development. She enjoys reading and writing in her free time and is passionate about outreach to inspire the next generation of scientists.