Alice Ball
| Alice Augusta Ball | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
July 24, 1892 Seattle, Washington |
| Died | December 31, 1916 (aged 24) Seattle, Washington |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater |
University of Hawaii University of Washington |
| Known for | Treatment of leprosy |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Chemistry |
Alice Augusta Ball (July 24, 1892 – December 31, 1916) was an African American chemist who developed an injectable oil extract that was the most effective treatment for leprosy until the 1940s. She was also the first woman and first African American to graduate from the University of Hawaii with a master's degree.
Alice Augusta Ball was born on July 24, 1892 in Seattle, Washington to James Presley and Laura Louise (Howard) Ball. Her family was considered middle class to upper-middle class, as Ball's father was a newspaper editor, photographer, and a lawyer. Her grandfather, James Ball Sr., was a famous photographer, and was one of the first African Americans in the United States to learn to daguerreotype.
James Ball, Sr. moved to Hawaii with his family in 1903, but died one year later which caused the family to move back to Seattle in 1905. After returning to Seattle, Ball attended Seattle High School and received top grades in the sciences. She graduated from Seattle High School in 1910.
Ball studied chemistry at the University of Washington, and in four years she earned bachelor's degrees in both pharmaceutical chemistry and pharmacy. With her pharmacy instructor, she published a 10-page article in the prestigious Journal of the American Chemical Society titled "Benzoylations in Ether Solution."
Following her graduation, Ball was offered many scholarships to attend the University of California Berkeley and the University of Hawaii. She decided to move back to Hawaii to pursue a master's degree in chemistry. In 1915, she became the first woman and first African American to graduate with a master's degree from the University of Hawaii.
In her postgraduate research career at the University of Hawaii, Ball investigated the chemical makeup and active principle of Piper methysticum (kava) for her master's thesis. While working on her thesis, Ball was asked by Dr. Harry T. Hollmann, an assistant surgeon at Kalihi Hospital in Hawaii, to help him develop a method to isolate the active chemical compounds in chaulmoogra oil.
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