Rosalyn Sussman Yalow (1921–2011) was an American medical physicist and co-winner of the 1977 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her development of the radioimmunoassay (RIA) technique. Born in New York City, Yalow earned her Ph.D. in physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Yalow’s groundbreaking work in collaboration with Solomon Berson revolutionized medical diagnostics by enabling the measurement of minute quantities of biological substances, such as hormones and drugs, in blood and other bodily fluids. The RIA technique utilizes radioactive isotopes to detect and quantify these substances, leading to significant advancements in medical research and clinical practice.
Yalow’s contributions to science also extended to her advocacy for women in STEM fields, inspiring future generations of female scientists. She received numerous awards and honors throughout her career, including the National Medal of Science, cementing her legacy as one of the most influential figures in medical physics and biochemistry.
Rosalyn Sussman Yalow Quotes
1. “The excitement of learning separates youth from old age. As long as you’re learning you’re not old.”
— Rosalyn Sussman Yalow
2. “We must believe in ourselves or no one will believe in us.”
— Rosalyn Sussman Yalow
3. “We must believe in ourselves as no one else will believe in us, we must match our expectations with the competence, courage and determination to succeed.”
— Rosalyn Sussman Yalow
4. “New truths become evident when new tools become available.”
— Rosalyn Sussman Yalow
5. “The Nobel Prize gives you an opportunity to make a fool of yourself in public.”
— Rosalyn Sussman Yalow
6. “The world cannot afford to lose the talents of half it’s people if we are to solve the many problems that beset us.”
— Rosalyn Sussman Yalow
7. “I have long felt that the trouble with discrimination is not discrimination per se, but rather that the people who are discriminated against think of themselves as second-class.”
— Rosalyn Sussman Yalow
8. “The failure of women to have reached positions of leadership has been due in large part to social and professional discrimination.”
— Rosalyn Sussman Yalow
9. “In the past, few women have tried and even fewer have succeeded.”
— Rosalyn Sussman Yalow
10. “We bequeath to you, the next generation, our knowledge but also our problems. While we still live, let us join hands, hearts and minds to work together for their solution so that your world will be better than ours and the world of your children even better.”
— Rosalyn Sussman Yalow
11. “All women scientists should marry, rear children, cook, and clean in order to achieve fulfillment, to be a complete woman.”
— Rosalyn Sussman Yalow
12. “We still live in a world in which a significant fraction of people, including women, believe that a woman belongs and wants to belong exclusively in the home.”
— Rosalyn Sussman Yalow
13. “If you ever have a new idea, and it’s really new, you have to expect that it won’t be widely accepted immediately. It’s a long hard process.”
— Rosalyn Sussman Yalow
14. “The war gave women like her opportunities, not a feminist movement, and if the opportunities dwindled after the war, she feels that it was because women didn’t want them.”
— Rosalyn Sussman Yalow
15. “There is at present in the United States a powerful activist movement that is anti-intellectual, anti-science, and anti-technology. If we are to have faith that mankind will survive and thrive on the face of the Earth, we must depend on the continued revolutions brought about by science.”
— Rosalyn Sussman Yalow
