Dorothy Hodgkin

1910 – 1994

Dorothy Mary Crowfoot Hodgkin was an English chemist who advanced X-ray crystallography into the principal technique for determining the molecular structure of complex biomolecules. She received the 1964 Nobel Prize in Chemistry—the only British woman ever to win a science Nobel—for her work establishing the structures of penicillin and vitamin B12, and in 1969 she completed the structure of insulin after 35 years of effort. She was awarded the Order of Merit in 1965, only the second woman ever to receive the honor after Florence Nightingale.

Last checked: May 10, 2026, 1:06 PM