Ellen Silbergeld Scientist
Ellen Kovner Silbergeld (born 1945) is a leading expert in the field of environmental health. After graduating from Vassar College summa cum laude in 1967, she earned a Ph.D. in environmental engineering at Johns Hopkins University in 1972. She is a professor at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University and formerly was on the faculty at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. Before that she worked as a scientist for Environmental Defense. She is editor-in-chief of the journal Environmental Research. She is an authority on the toxicological manifestations of lead and mercury poisoning, having done some of the first research on how lead affects the central nervous system. Silbergeld has also been involved in public policy and raised public awareness of the dangers of lead. In 1993, she received the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship ("genius award") from the MacArthur Foundation.