BIOCHEMISTRY

Gladys J. Everson Lectureship Series

Gladys June Everson was born in 1909 in Lake Mills, Wisconsin. She completed her undergraduate degree in 1931 at the University of Wisconsin and her MS in 1936 at the University of Iowa. She then returned to Madison to work with Professor Harry Steenbock, and received her PhD from the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin in 1942. Dr. Everson’s research interests focused on the relationship between dietary deficiencies and birth defects, with a particular emphasis on the role of manganese and copper in fetal development. She served on the faculty at the University of California in Davis from 1953 to 1969; while departmental chair at Davis, she raised concerns about the general need for more exercise and better nutrition to improve health. 

Upon her death in 1969, she bequeathed her estate to the Department of Biochemistry, which has been used to support the Gladys J. Everson Lectureship in Biochemistry. This lectureship features former associates of our department, including former graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and faculty.