Mary Peters Fieser Biography

Mary Peters Fieser's substantial contributions to the field of organic chemistry include her work on the Harvard research team headed by her husband, Louis Fieser, and her authorship of numerous key texts and reference books in the field. She was involved in numerous important areas, including the synthesis of vitamin K, the development of an antimalarial drug, and the synthesis of cortisone and carcinogenic chemicals for medical research. For her research, publications, and skill in teaching chemistry students how to write, she was awarded the prestigious Garvan Medal in 1971.

Fieser was born in 1909 in Atchison, Kansas, to Robert Peters, an English professor, and Julia (Clutz) Peters, a bookstore owner and manager. Her father accepted a position at what is now Carnegie-Mellon University, and Fieser grew up in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Her family believed strongly in educational and professional achievement for women: Fieser's mother did graduate work in English, and her sister, Ruth, became a mathematics professor. Her grandmother, who had educated her seven children herself at home until they were college age, impressed upon Fieser the importance of using her education constructively.

After attending a private girls' school, Fieser went to Bryn Mawr College, where she earned a B.A. in chemistry in 1930. There, she met her future husband, Louis Fieser, who was a chemistry instructor at the college. She enjoyed his courses, finding his emphasis on experimental rather than theoretical chemistry to be especially interesting. When Louis left Bryn Mawr in 1930 to teach at Harvard, she went with him. There, she performed chemistry research in his laboratory while earning a master's degree in organic chemistry, which she received in 1936.

When the couple married in 1932, Fieser continued her professional association with her husband on his research team. This arrangement benefited Fieser enormously in her professional career, because bias against women in the field of chemistry very strong at that time. For instance, her analytical chemistry professor at Harvard, Gregory Paul Baxter, refused to allow her to perform her experiments in the laboratory with the rest of the class. Instead, Fieser had to perform experiments in the deserted basement of another building, with little or no supervision. Once married, however, she was free to conduct research on her husband's team unhampered. As she commented during an interview with the Journal of Chemical Education, there were too many obstacles to an academic career in chemistry as a single woman, but after she was married, "I could do as much chemistry as I wanted, and it didn't matter what Professor Baxter thought of me."

As part of Louis Fieser's research team, Mary Fieser helped develop a practical method of obtaining substantial amounts of vitamin K . The antihemorrhagic properties of vitamin K had been discovered during the 1930s by Henrik Dam in Copenhagen. Researchers had discovered this vitamin in green plants and especially in dried alfalfa, but the amount available from these sources was too small to be of practical use in medical therapy. The Fieser research group developed a method of synthesizing large amounts of vitamin K in a short period of time. The vitamin's blood-clotting characteristic has proved useful in prenatal therapy and other therapeutic purposes as well.

The Fiesers also focused on the use of naphthoquinones as antimalarial drugs.Quinine was one of the standard drugs used to treat malaria. When Japan invaded the East Indies during World War II, most of the world's supply of quinine became inaccessible to the Allies. The Fieser research team undertook a study of naphthoquinones as an alternative treatment. The Fiesers' research focused on isolating and identifying intermediate compounds along the reaction pathway. Their work ultimately contributed to the synthesis of the antimalarial drug lapinone.

Fieser worked on numerous other projects, including studies of the chemical causes of cancer. She helped develop methods of synthesizing various carcinogenic chemicals for use in medical research. She also played an important role in one of the Fiesers' more well-known projects: their contribution to the synthesis of cortisone, a steroid hormone used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

Fieser was highly regarded by her colleagues for her skill as a research chemist. Harvard chemist William von Doering is quoted in the Journal of Chemical Education as saying that she was "a very gifted experimentalist" and an "active, influential part of the team." In addition to her research, Fieser wrote or co-wrote with her husband a dozen chemistry texts and reference books, beginning in 1944 with the best-selling textbook Organic Chemistry. One of their most widely used publications, Reagents for Organic Synthesis, was the first reference work of its kind for researchers in organic chemistry. It was the result of a comprehensive, international review of organic chemistry literature from which Mary Fieser culled the results of studies in chemical synthesis.

Fieser's books were especially noteworthy because of her expert writing skills--an unusual ability for a chemist at that time. Fieser attempted to improve the quality of writing in her field by publishing Style Guide for Chemists. She and her husband, also a skilled writer, often argued at length over minor stylistic issues, such as the placement of a comma. These differences over writing style prompted Fieser's sister, Ruth, to suggest that their by-line "Fieser and Fieser" be changed to "Fieser versus Fieser."

In 1971, Fieser was awarded the Garvan Medal for her research contributions, her writing, and her skill in teaching chemistry students how to write. The Garvan Medal was established to "honor an American woman for distinguished service in chemistry." Her colleagues also noted that the awards her husband received were due at least in part to her efforts in the laboratory. In her leisure time, Fieser enjoyed indulging her strong competitive streak by organizing games for her husband's research group after work hours and setting up contests in ping-pong, badminton, and horseshoes for the graduate students. She and her husband owned many cats, including one named in honor of their work on synthesizing vitamin K. Their cats' photographs were used in their published work and came to be their trademark. Mary Fieser died on March 22, 1997 in her home in Belmont, Massachusetts.