Elizabeth Weir Toor, an academic researcher in chemistry and metallurgy, passed away on August 24. She was 99 years old.
Born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, Dr. Toor pursued undergraduate studies at Stanford University and the University of Alberta, where she graduated with a degree in chemistry. She went on to earn her Ph.D. from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and later completed postdoctoral research at University College London.
While her husband began a faculty position at what is now Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Dr. Toor was told the university did not hire women for faculty positions in science or engineering. Instead, she became a researcher with the university’s metallurgy department. After a stint working part time with the U.S. Bureau of Mines, she returned to Carnegie Mellon and conducted research on a wide-range of topics such as gallstones and coal slurries.
Outside of her work in academia, Dr. Toor was active in local politics, working with the League of Women Voters and with the Group Against Smog and Pollution. She retired in 2008.