Charlotte Fitch Roberts


Charlotte Fitch Roberts was an American chemist best known for her work on stereochemistry.

Life

Roberts was born on 13 February 13, 1859 in New York City to Horace Roberts and Mary Roberts.

Education and career

Roberts attended Wellesley College in 1880. Wellesley made her a graduate assistant in 1881, an instructor in 1882, and an associate professor in 1886. In 1885 she spent a year at Cambridge University working with Sir James Dewar, a chemist and physicist. In 1896 she published The Development and Present Aspects of Stereochemistry. She obtained a PhD from Yale in 1894 and a post at the University of Berlin from 1899 to 1900. She was made a professor and the head of the chemistry department from 1896 to 1917 at Wellesley College.

Awards and professional bodies

Roberts was made a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a chemistry professorship at Wellesley now bears her name.