Margaret Foster, the first woman chemist to work for the US Geological Survey

4 March 1895, Illinois, Chicago (USA) - 5 November 1970, Spring, Maryland (USA)

Margaret Dorothy (‘Dot’) Foster graduated from Illinois College in 1918, earned a Master of Science degree from George Washington University in 1926, and a PhD in chemistry from American University in 1936.

Starting in 1918, she became the first chemist to work for the US Geological Survey, developing ways to detect minerals in natural bodies of water. The methods she introduced included those for quantifying manganese, boron, fluoride, and sulfate.

In 1942, he worked on the Manhattan Project in the Chemistry and Physics Section, under the supervision of Roger C. Wells, investigating two new quantitative analysis techniques for uranium and thorium, as well as two new ways of separating the two elements.

After the war, he returned to his post at the Geological Survey and studied the chemistry of clay minerals and micas.

In 1956, Illinois College awarded him an honorary doctorate.

Throughout his career, he wrote dozens of research articles on the chemistry of the natural world and methods of analysis.