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Over the years, Elion's career prospered.
Despite some tensions
in their relationship, George Hitchings
proved not only an invaluable research partner but
also a helpful mentor. Unlike many prominent
scientists, he encouraged his assistants to write
their own papers, and within two years, Elion began
to publish the findings of her research; over the
course of her career, she published over 225
papers. Hitchings also promoted her behind him up
the ladder at Burroughs Wellcome. Eventually, Elion
had a large department of assistants working for
her.
Notwithstanding her achievements, Hitchings knew
that Elion was still sensitive about her lack of
official academic qualifications, and he hoped that
membership in the distinguished American Society of
Biological Chemists would be some compensation.
With three strikes against her—she was a woman,
had no doctorate, and was employed in industry
rather than academia—her nomination appeared
unlikely, but Hitchings pushed hard and was able to
secure it in the early 1950s, after the publication
of her twentieth article.
Elion's prestige continued to grow. In 1962, she
won the American Chemical Society's Garvan
Medal; in 1967, when she was named Head
of Experimental Therapy, she became the first woman
to lead a major research group at Burroughs
Wellcome. Two years later, she received a call from
George Mandell of George Washington University, who
said, "[T]he kind of work you're doing,
you've long since passed what a doctorate would
have meant. But we've got to make an honest woman
of you. We'll give you a doctorate, so we can call
you 'doctor' legitimately." As she grasped her
honorary degree—the first of 25 honorary
doctorates, including one from Brooklyn Polytechnic
—her only thought was "I wish my mother were
here."
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