18 Facts About Arlene Blum

Arlene Blum was born on March 1,1945 and is an American mountaineer, writer, and environmental health scientist.

Arlene Blum is best known for leading the first successful American ascent of Annapurna, a climb that was an all-woman ascent.

Arlene Blum led the first all-woman ascent of Denali, and was the first American woman to attempt Mount Everest.

Arlene Blum is executive director of the Green Science Policy Institute, an organization of scientists who develop and communicate peer-reviewed research to develop innovative solutions to reduce the use of toxic chemicals.

Arlene Blum graduated from Reed in 1966 and attended MIT and UC Berkeley, where she earned a PhD in biophysical chemistry in 1971.

Arlene Blum participated in the second American effort to climb Mount Everest as part of the American Bicentennial Everest Expedition, but did not reach the summit.

Arlene Blum led the first expedition to climb Bhrigupanth in the Indian Himalayas, leading a team of Indian and American women.

Arlene Blum then made what she called the "Great Himalayan Traverse", a two-thousand-mile journey adjacent to beautiful peaks of the Himalayas from Bhutan to India with treker Hugh Swift.

Arlene Blum's Stanford advisor, Robert Baldwin, stated in his oral history that this work was a first step towards solving the problem of the mechanism of protein folding.

Arlene Blum's research with biochemist Bruce Ames at the UC Berkeley found that the flame retardant called Tris, used at high levels in most children's pajamas in the middle of the 1970s, was a mutagen and likely carcinogen.

Arlene Blum discovered that the same Tris her research had helped remove from children's pajamas was back in American couches and baby products.

Arlene Blum's award-winning memoir, Breaking Trail: A Climbing Life tells the story of how Blum realized improbable dreams among the world's highest mountains, in the chemistry laboratory, and in public policy.

Arlene Blum has published articles about science policy in The New York Times, Science magazine, Los Angeles Times, and The Huffington Post.

Arlene Blum holds a Gold Medal from the Society of Woman Geographers, an honor previously given to only eight other women including Amelia Earhart, Margaret Mead, and Mary Leakey.

In 2018 Arlene Blum was inducted into the California Hall of Fame.

Arlene Blum is the founder of the annual Berkeley Himalayan Fair and the Burma Village Assistance Project.

Arlene Blum serves on the board of the Plastic Pollution Coalition.

Arlene Blum has a daughter, Annalise Blum, a 2010 graduate of Stanford University in environmental engineering.