Winifred Goldring Facts:
Dates: February 1, 1888 - January 30, 1971
Known for: first woman president of the Paleontological Society
Occupation: paleontologist and geologist
Winifred Goldring Biography:
In 1914, she began working, at first on temporary summer assignment, with the New York State Museum in Albany. Here she continued to work, to design educational exhibits, to advance her research in paleontology, and, when state funds were low, to work on geology projects.
She emphasized, in her exhibits, public understanding of geology and fossils. She also produced several handbooks on fossils and geology, used by the general public as well as in college courses. One was the Handbook of Paleontology for Beginners and Amateurs published in 1929.
In 1939, Goldring was appointed official state paleontologist, the first woman to hold that position. Although she often found herself passed over for desired positions and honors because she was a woman, she was persistent and determined in her chosen field. In 1949, she became the first woman elected as president of the Paleontological Society, and she also served as vice president of the Geological Society of America.
Although when she was in college, she explained that she did not intend to marry as she had "as yet discovered no one more attractive than my work," she ceased her scientific studies at her retirement in 1954. She spent her last years walking in the nearby mountains, reading, and spending time with friends and family.
