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Rosalyn Sussman Yalow (1921–2011) was the second woman ever to earn a PhD from Illinois Physics and the first American woman ever to win a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1977), “for the development of radioimmunoassays of peptide hormones,” a technique she developed with colleague Solomon Berson. |
As the daughter of Dr. Rosalyn Yalow, I am honored to share a few memories of my mother that have stayed with me throughout my lifetime. There truly were two sides to my mom. Her life in science where she was bold and determined—brilliant and nurturing to the next generation of scientists who came to her lab to study, learn, and contribute. And then there was her personal life, where her commitment to her family was strong and unwavering. In retrospect, I realize the challenges she must have faced to give herself fully to both her science and her family, but as a child I never perceived that one needed to be compromised to support the other.
And so I grew up to pursue my own career and raise my own family, knowing my mother as a scientist, but also of her love for our family. She brought to us the same degree of focus that she brought to her work, instilling a sense of responsibility by her words and actions. She would constantly remind me of my obligation, her obligation, to use whatever skills and gifts she was blessed with on behalf of others. She held herself to the standard that she leave the world a better place than the one she inherited, and she expected that her children would do the same.
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What defined my mom was a fierce sense of responsibility, self sacrifice, and integrity. She believed that no one was owed anything because of who they were, where they came from, or even what obstacles they had to overcome. One had to work hard to earn life’s privileges as she had to overcome all the obstacles that society placed in her way as a Jewish woman with a love of science, a curiosity about the world, and a relentless commitment to use her talents and skills on behalf of others.
As I tried to pull my thoughts together for this piece it is clear that I do not know how to do justice to the remarkable person that she was. What I do know are the invaluable lessons she taught me. I learned to believe in myself, to work hard on behalf of others, to put my family and friends above all, and to strive to use the many advantages I have been afforded to try to make a difference. I learned that it matters little how big your house, the clothes you wear, the possessions you amass. Her honesty, determination, compassion, brilliance, and accomplishments are her legacy. I doubt that I have been able to live up to the standards she set, but I know that she did. And while she changed the world, she never lost her focus on her family.
More than anything, my mom lived her life on behalf of future generations. She willed her science to the world, her efforts to humankind, and her values and beliefs to her children and grandchildren. And so her torch has been passed on to the next generation, particularly to women scientists, to honor her memory, if they so choose, by finding their own path to making a positive difference in the world in which we live. The most powerful but simple message that has endured through the years is that the true rewards in life come from devoting your efforts on behalf of others. My mom’s gifts to the world were great. But her inspiration to those who found their own professional calling in service of others, particularly women in science, can have an ever greater impact. For it will take their collective wisdom and dedication to help overcome the challenges that beset our world today into the future.