Ten fun facts about Virginia Apgar

Fact 1
Her method the "Apgar Score", developed in the 1950's, helped reduce infant mortality and became the basis of neonatology.

Fact 2
She was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in New York in 1995.

Fact 3
She was vice president for Medical Affairs for the March of Dimes Foundation.

Fact 4
In college, she was a reporter for the college news, played on 7 sports teams and played violin for the orchestra, all while she had exceptional academic grades.

Fact 5
In 1929 when she began medical training at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, she was only one of nine women.

Fact 6
She became the first woman to hold a professorship at Physician's and Surgeons as the professor of anesthesiology.

Fact 7
Apgar had seen over 17,000 births by the late 1950's.

Fact 8
She received many awards such as the Alumni Gold Medal for Distinguished Achievement and was also elected Woman of the Year by Ladies Home Journal.

Fact 9
Though she excelled in sciences during high school, she did poorly in home economics courses. Her friends claimed she never learned how to cook.

Fact 10
Apgar stood by the belief that women were "liberated from the time they leave the womb" and that her gender did not limit her in her career.

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