Although Edith Marion Patch intended to become an English teacher (she graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1901 with a degree in English) she instead became an entomologist and the first woman to head an entomology department at the University of Maine, being appointed in 1904 and continuing as department head until 1937 (despite the reservations of some of the male faculty)! She actually received a masters degree in 1910 from Maine and her Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1911.
Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1876, she became fascinated with insects at an early age. This was initiated when her parents moved to Minnesota when she was eight years old. As a child she won an essay contest with an entry on the monarch butterfly. With the money she bought a book on insects written by J. H. Comstock, who later became her mentor! Patch was obviously a very adaptable academic and certainly very much ahead of her time. She managed to convince enough people at the University of Maine that she could organize the department that she was appointed department head, She then became a world authority on aphids and eventually the first woman president of the Entomological Society of America (ESA), of which she was a charter member, in 1930.
I often referred to Edith Patch while coaching an Entomological Society of America Linnean team (College Bowl for bug chasers!) because her name would occasionally be the answer to a question posed during the games. Since Patch the ESA has had a several women presidents, but her presidency was at the time most unusual. In truth she opened the way for women in professional entomology and was a true pioneer. Women in the ESA have gone from less than 3% to over 30% and in my opinion the society has been enriched greatly by them.
Internet References:
Edith Marion Patch http://www.distinguishedwomen.com/...
Edith Marion Patch http://en.wikipedia.org/...
Women Entomologists http://insects.about.com/...