Ada Hayden
From Rofflehaus
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In the early days of spring, when the last snowbank melted away from the reddish brown grassland, lavender pasqueflowers lent a bluish cast to the rolling northern prairies. When our grandparents saw these flowers, they knew that winter had ended.
--Ada Hayden
Ada Hayden (August 14, 1884 – 1950) is the fourth person, and the first female, that obtained a doctorate degree from ISU (then ISC).
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[edit] Childhood
Hayden was the only child of David and Christina Hayden born 2 miles north of Ames (vicinity of Top-O-Hollow and Hoover Avenue). Hayden's parents owned much of the land that is now the Ames Quarry. On their many acres of land, they had several acres of untouched prairie to preserve that Hayden used as a laboratory for class she later taught.
[edit] College years
During high school at Ames High School (AHS), Hayden was encouraged by Louis Pammel to pursue her interests in botany. After graduating from AHS in 1904 with honors, she went on to Iowa State College (ISC) and studied Botany under under Pammel. Hayden became a very active student at ISC. She was on the women's basketball team, a class officer, honor student, member of the literary club, and more. After she graduated with a BS in Botany in 1908, she did some graduate work at the Shaw School of Botany in Missouri but continued on at Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri and received her MS in 1910.
Hayden then did some more graduate work at University of Colorado and University of Chicago but returned to ISC in 1911. She returned as a student once again but as an instructor of Botany. Most of the research Hayden did was with Pammel until his death in 1931.
In 1918, she became the fourth person and first woman to be awarded a PhD at ISC.
[edit] Professorship years
In 1920, she was appointed as an assistant professor of botany. Hayden primarily taught class until 1934 when she was reappointed as a researcher at the Iowa State College Agriculture Experiment Station after Robert Cratty retired as curator.
After returning to ISC, Hayden assisted Louis Pammel in his research and contributed to his works by writing, taking pictures, and making illustrations. After Pammel's death, she pursued the preservation of praries. Two were later named the Hayden prairie and the Kalsow prairie.
[edit] Education
- 1904, Ames High School; with honors
- 1908, BS in Botany from Iowa State College
- 1908, graduate student at the Shaw School of Botany, Missouri
- 1910, MS in Botany from Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri
- 1911, returned to ISC as both an instructor and a student
- 1918, PhD from Iowa State College
[edit] Accomplishments
- Iowa Conservation Hall of Fame (1967)
- 26 prairies were preserved in Iowa due to her efforts
[edit] Memberships
Most of Hayden's memberships focus on groups concerned with conservation.
- Botanical Society of America
- Ecologist's Union
- Sigma Delta Epsilon
- American Society of Range Management
- Iowa Academy of Science
