Gertrude Falk was an American physiologist, who was Professor of Physiology at University College London, and the first woman to work in her field at UCL Medical School.
17 Facts About Gertrude Falk
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Gertrude Falk was born in Brooklyn, New York City on August 24,1925.
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Gertrude Falk's mother was a Lithuanian who entered the United States at the age of 16, only able to speak Yiddish, and her immigrant father operated a furrier shop during the Great Depression.
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Gertrude Falk worked as a guard at her father's shop, and helped him to conceal non-unionized workers in the cupboard when inspectors visited the shop.
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Gertrude Falk expressed a desire to enroll at university though her traditionalist parents objected to this.
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Gertrude Falk graduated from the college with a Bachelor of Science in 1947.
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Gertrude Falk went on to study at University of Chicago, undertaking postgraduate research on diuresis, earning her a Doctor of Philosophy.
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Bernard Katz 8.
Gertrude Falk began her academic career at the University of Illinois College of Medicine, where she worked from 1952 to 1953, before moving to the University of Chicago as an instructor in natural science between 1953 and 1954.
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Gertrude Falk moved to the University of Washington, Seattle in 1954, working as an instructor, and later as assistant to the professor of paracetamol.
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Gertrude Falk worked with Andrew Field Huxley in 1963 and Bernard Katz in 1970.
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Outside her academic work, Gertrude Falk was a decades-long member of the Hampstead Labour Party, working in campaigning and fundraising from her home in Hampstead Hill Gardens.
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Gertrude Falk was a signatory to British Friends of Peace Now and Jews for Justice for Palestinians, and was a treasurer for Mapam UK.
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Gertrude Falk was a strong supporter of Israel and the withdrawal of its military forces from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
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In 2007, Gertrude Falk wrote to Camden New Journal about the cuts to the mental health service budget to hospitals in Camden Town.
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Gertrude Falk died after a short illness on March 9,2008, and she was given a funeral in Golders Green on March 17.
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Gertrude Falk was described by Lawrence Joffe of The Guardian as "small of stature" and "a legendary conversationalist".
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The STS Gertrude Falk Prize was established by the University College London in her honor to award the "top overall performance through any STS iBSc year".