EXHIBITS
Telling Our Story: 130 Years of Aggie Women: Scholars
Aggie Women Scholars
Vendla Berntson became the first student to enroll at the Agricultural College of Utah (ACU) which opened in 1890. Within four years, women began to graduate with Domestic Science and General Science degrees. In 1921, Ethelyn Oliver Greaves became the first woman in ACU history to earn a master’s degree in Foods and Nutrition. Dr. Greaves subsequently co-authored a textbook, Elementary Bacteriology, with her husband, and served as Dean of the Home Economics Department.
In time women began pursuing degrees in science and engineering, but academic progress was slow. While the 1939 Buzzer yearbook notes Ms. A Kearl as the first woman member of the civil engineering club, not until 1967 did USU graduate its’ first woman engineer, Adonna Watkins. Today, USU supports women pursuing degrees in all field of study.