UpDate - Vol. 15, No. 13, Page 6
November 30, 1995
Memorial service held in honor of Elizabeth Dyer

     Elizabeth Dyer, professor emerita of chemistry and biochemistry,
died Nov. 25 at Cokesbury Village in Hockessin at the age of 89.
     The Haverhill, Mass., native, who joined the Women's College
faculty in 1933 as an instructor in chemistry, remained involved in
University activities well beyond her 1971 retirement.
     She was active in University academic and alumni activities and,
for nearly two decades, she published the Chemistry Alumni Newsletter.
In 1970, the University of Delaware Alumni Association named an
undergraduate scholarship in her honor.
     Miss Dyer was recognized consistently by her students- including
Daniel Nathans, current acting president of Johns Hopkins University
and recipient of the 1978 Nobel Prize in Medicine-for her outstanding
teaching skills and dedication to her students. In 1969, she received
the University's excellence-in-teaching award.
     John Burmeister, Alumni Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and
Biochemistry, said of Miss Dyer, "Betty was the most caring and nicest
person I ever met in the profession. She was an inspiration to
chemistry majors, especially women, and, at the same time, was modest
and self-effacing, avoiding the limelight, even turning down the
Garvin Medal, a high award for women chemists. She began her career
with everything stacked against her because of her sex but overcame
obstacles and was one of the first women to receive her doctorate from
Yale.
     "With Quaesita Drake, she was a pioneer in proving that women
could be excellent chemistry professors. Her most signal achievement
was as a role model for women chemists at a crucial time when women
were beginning to enter the profession. Thanks, in part to her, at the
University of Delaware 40 percent of the majors in our department are
women, and the majority of biochemistry majors are women."
     Active in several organizations, Miss Dyer served as president of
Phi Kappa Phi, Delaware chapter; the American Association of
University Professors, Delaware chapter; and was secretary and
counselor to the Delaware section of the American Chemical Society.
     Miss Dyer was the author of more than 61 published articles. She
also was a member of many organizations, including the American
Chemical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of
Science, the American Association of University Women and Phi Beta
Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, Mortar Board and Sigma Xi.
     A graduate of Mount Holyoke College, where she earned her
bachelor's and master's degrees, Miss Dyer received her doctorate at
Yale University in 1931. She conducted postdoctoral work in Scotland
at Edinburgh and Glasgow universities.
     In 1952, she received an alumna citation from Mount Holyoke
College, and she was honored with a teaching award from the
Manufacturing Chemists Association in 1958.
     Miss Dyer was a volunteer teacher of natural history at the
Ashland Nature Center and was a member of the Delmarva Ornithological
Society.
     A memorial service was held Nov. 29 in Cokesbury Village.
     The family has suggested contributions in Miss Dyer's name be
made to the UD General Scholarship Fund.
                                                         -Ed Okonowicz