31 Jewel Plummer Cobb

Jewel Plummer Cobb

Time period:

1924 – 2017

Subject:

Biology, oncology

Biography:

Jewel Plummer Cobb was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Frank Plummer, a physician, and Carriebel Plummer, a physical education teacher. Cobb’s interest in science was first sparked while looking through a microscope in a high school biology class. She pursued her undergraduate degree at Talladega College in Alabama, where she graduated with a BA in biology in 1944. Despite facing racial discrimination, she earned her MS degree from New York University in 1947 and a PhD with a focus on cell physiology in 1950. Her dissertation, Mechanisms of Pigment Formation, examined melanin pigment granules formations using tyrosinase.

Summary of their contributions:

Throughout her career, Cobb made significant contributions to melanoma research by examining the relationship between melanin and skin damage, and the effects of hormones, ultraviolet light, and chemotherapy agents on cell division. Cobb also discovered that methotrexate is an effective treatment for certain skin cancers, lung cancers, and childhood leukemia. She held prestigious positions at several institutions, including the University of Illinois, New York University, Sarah Lawrence College, and Connecticut College. In 1969, she became the first African American woman to serve as a college president when she was appointed President of California State University, Fullerton. Throughout her life, she advocated for increased representation of women and students of color in universities by creating programs to promote diversity and inclusion in the sciences.

Integration with the BC Secondary Science Curriculum:

The work of Cobb could be discussed in grade 10 science (mutation), science for citizens 11 (personal and public health practices), and anatomy & physiology 12 (genomics, disease).

Her ideas could be used to demonstrate the following curricular competencies:

• Demonstrate a sustained intellectual curiosity about a scientific topic or problem of personal interest
• Connect scientific explorations to careers in science
• Consider the role of scientists in innovation

References:

Dr. Jewel Plummer Cobb, Black Woman Scientist and Trailblazing Researcher. (March 27, 2023). Retrieved from https://www.talladega.edu/featured-alumni/dr-jewel-plummer-cobb-black-woman-scientist-and-trailblazing-researcher

Elliott, Ellen. (May 14, 2018). Women in Science: Jewel Plummer Cobb (1924-2017). Retrieved from https://www.jax.org/news-and-insights/jax-blog/2018/may/women-in-science-jewel-plummer-cobb

Jewel Plummer Cobb. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.cwhf.org/inductees/jewel-plummer-cobb