Ruth Lawrence, professor emerita at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, passed away on October 12. She was 101 years old.
A native of Brooklyn, New York, Dr. Lawrence received her undergraduate degree from Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. In the mid-1940s, she enrolled at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, making her one of the country’s first women admitted to medical school. After completing her medical degree in 1949, she became the first woman resident in pediatrics at Yale University.
Upon completing her medical training, Dr. Lawrence returned to the University of Rochester, where she would stay for the remainder of her lifetime. Over her 70-year career, she was a leading scholar in pediatrics, poison control, and breastfeeding science. She began her tenure at Rochester as head of the well-baby and preemie nurseries at Strong Memorial Hospital. In 1958, she established the Poison Control and Drug Information Center, only the second center of its kind in the nation and the first to provide 24/7 advice to the public.
In the 1960s, Dr. Lawrence founded Rochester’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and served as its inaugural neonatologist. In this role, she taught generations of aspiring physicians and conducted extensive research on infant nutrition and breastfeeding medicine. An international expert in her field, she authored Breastfeeding: A Guide for the Medical Profession (Elsevier, 1979), a widely used medical textbook now in its ninth edition. In 1985, Dr. Lawrence founded Rochester’s Breastfeeding and Human Lactation Study Center and served as its director for many years. Nearly four decades later, she helped to develop the medical school’s division of breastfeeding and lactation medicine. Last year, the University of Rochester established the the Ruth A. Lawrence Educational Fund to support the division’s operations.
As a leader in the broader field of breastfeeding science, Dr. Lawrence was an active participant with numerous boards and initiatives, including the Surgeon General’s Workshop on Breastfeeding and Human Lactation, the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Breastfeeding, the United States Breastfeeding Committee, and the International Society for Research on Human Milk and Lactation. Dr. Lawrence was a founding member of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine and served as its president from 1996-1997.