1 Columbia University
The death of Hattie Alexander, on June 24 last, took from pediatrics one of its most loyal and effective participants. Her skill as a clinician and as an investigator of communicable disease won her wide recognition which need not be detailed here, except to recall that she was the first woman to be elected president of the American Pediatric Society.
Two striking aspects of her personality should he mentioned, however, for they have been overlooked by the obituary notices I have seen thus far, including the admirable tribute published in the New York Times of June 25. One is her scientific objectivity, the other, her courage.