23 Facts About Elsie Widdowson

Elsie Widdowson became one of the first woman graduates of Imperial College of London after earning her Bachelor's degree in 1928 for chemistry.

Elsie Widdowson continued her postgraduate work at Imperial College in the Department of Plant Physiology.

Elsie Widdowson started work in the University's department of plant physiology.

Elsie Widdowson did further research with Professor Charles Dodds at the Courtauld Institute of Biochemistry at Middlesex Hospital, on the metabolism of the kidneys, and received a doctorate from the Courtauld Institute.

Elsie Widdowson struggled to find a long-term position despite obtaining a doctoral degree from a prestigious institution.

Elsie Widdowson learned about the compositions of meat and fish and how cooking affected them.

Elsie Widdowson met Robert McCance in the kitchens at King's College Hospital in 1933, when she was studying industrial cooking techniques as part of her diploma on dietetics.

Elsie Widdowson pointed out an error in McCance's analysis of the fructose content of fruit, based on her PhD research.

McCance became a Reader in Medicine at Cambridge University in 1938, and Elsie Widdowson joined his team at the Department of Experimental Medicine in Cambridge.

Elsie Widdowson studied the impact of infant diet on human growth.

Elsie Widdowson followed up this work in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s by studying malnourishment in Africa.

Elsie Widdowson showed that a newborn human infant has 16 percent of its weight as fat, much greater than the one or two percent of other species.

Elsie Widdowson studied the importance of the nutritional content of infant diets, specifically, vitamins and minerals in natural and artificial human milk.

Elsie Widdowson's work led to revised standards for breast milk substitutes in the UK in the 1980s.

Elsie Widdowson became head of the Infant Nutrition Research Division at the Dunn Nutritional Laboratory in Cambridge in 1966.

Elsie Widdowson formally retired in 1972, but continued academic research in the Department of Investigative Medicine at Addenbrooke's Hospital.

Elsie Widdowson was president of the Nutrition Society from 1977 to 1980, president of the Neonatal Society from 1978 to 1981, and president of the British Nutrition Foundation from 1986 to 1996.

Elsie Widdowson became a Fellow of Imperial College in 1994.

Elsie Widdowson became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1976 and was appointed a CBE in 1979.

Elsie Widdowson was made a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour in 1993, which is awarded for outstanding achievements in the arts, literature, music, science, politics, industry, or religion.

Elsie Widdowson lived in Barrington near Cambridge for over 50 years.

Elsie Widdowson ate a simple diet, including butter and eggs, and attributed her longevity to good genes: her father lived to 96 and her mother to 107.

Elsie Widdowson died at Addenbrooke's Hospital after suffering a stroke while on holiday with her sister in Ireland.