Discover the Top 13 Fun Facts About Alice Ball: The Unheralded Pioneer of Science

1. Cha-cha with chaulmoogra

Talk about doing the cha-cha with chaulmoogra: Alice Ball was a master of turning boring oil into a lifesaving dance number! Serious reveal: Alice, as the first African American research chemist at the University of Hawaii, developed a water-soluble, injectable form of chaulmoogra oil, providing a widely-used treatment for Hansen's disease (leprosy) until the 1940s, all by the age of 24.
Source => scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu

2. Avocado toast vs. leprosy cure

Step aside, avocado toast: Alice Ball was just 24 years young when she extracted the secret sauce from chaulmoogra oil to cure leprosy! She pioneered the now-famous injectable method that became the go-to treatment, liberating numerous patients from leper colonies between the 1910s and 1940s before the cure got eclipsed by a certain sulfa.
Source => lshtm.ac.uk

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=> Fun Facts about Cecilia-Payne

3. Success & Equality Tea

Her favorite cup of tea was "Success with a splash of Equality": Alice Ball was the first Black woman to obtain a master's degree and teach chemistry at the University of Hawaii, and her groundbreaking work in developing the Ball Method, an injectable treatment for leprosy, revolutionized medicine until the 1940s, overcoming attempts from people like Arthur L. Dean to steal her scientific thunder.
Source => openculture.com

4. Ball family's photo obsession

You might say the Ball family were masters of the "original Instagram": with a flair for framing life's moments and an uncanny knack for developing close bonds with weird chemicals. Serious reveal: Alice Ball grew up surrounded by a lineage of photographers, including her grandfather, one of the first African American daguerreotype artists, and her parents and aunt who also dabbled in the camera craft.
Source => scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu

5. Chemist vs. Leprosy Monster

Who needs a superhero when you have Alice Ball, the chemist who bamboozled bacteria and leprosy trembled in her wake: This trailblazing woman was both the first female and first African-American to receive a master's degree in chemistry from the College of Hawaii, and at the age of 24, she invented the revered 'Ball Method' for treating Hansen's Disease (leprosy), a technique that persisted until the advent of antibiotics.
Source => oumnh.ox.ac.uk

6. Superhero, Shade-Thrower, Leprosy Fighter

Alice Ball: medical superhero by day, expert shade thrower at gender norms and leprosy by night. Armed with her Chemistry master's degree, she brewed a secret potion to defeat the dreaded Leprosy Monster lurking in society's shadows: As a groundbreaking chemist in the early 20th century, Alice created the first ever successful leprosy treatment, rescuing thousands from isolation, and giving them a ticket back to their families and communities.
Source => awis.org

7. Chemist & Coconut Conqueror

When Alice Ball chemically chopped coconuts instead of whipping up piña coladas: This trailblazing lady became the first African-American woman to earn a master's degree in chemistry from the College of Hawaii, where she focused her brilliant mind on developing a treatment for Hansen's Disease, smashing expectations for Black women at the time.
Source => oumnh.ox.ac.uk

8. Tree-Hugging Life-Saver

Alice Ball: queen of turning trees into relief-bringing needles! This tree-hugging hero transformed chaulmoogra oil into an injectable life-saver: Alice developed a method to make the oil absorbable by the body, leading to the most effective leprosy treatment of the early 20th century. Dying at just 24, she still managed to become the first woman and African American to receive a master's degree from the University of Hawaiʻi – a true inspiration for aspiring female chemists and scientists everywhere.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

9. Hawaii's Tribute Tree Tea Party

In a twist of fate that would make even King Kamehameha shout "Eureka!", Hawaii throws a tea party under a tree and a chemist steals the show: On February 28, 2022, Governor David Ige proclaimed "Alice Augusta Ball Day," honoring the groundbreaking African-American and first woman with a master's in chemistry from University of Hawaii at Manoa, who discovered the Chaulmoogra tree's secret for treating leprosy at just 23. The celebration unveiled a bronze plaque and shady Chaulmoogra tree as an ode to Ball's life-saving partnership with nature.
Source => hawaii.edu

10. Playing with balls for science

Who said playing with balls couldn't be educational?: Alice Ball was the first African American and female to earn a master's degree in chemistry from the College of Hawaii and pioneered the 'Ball Method', revolutionizing the treatment of Hansen’s Disease with a water-soluble solution derived from chaulmoogra oil, becoming the go-to remedy until antibiotics came along - all this, despite passing away at just 24 years old.
Source => oumnh.ox.ac.uk

11. Organic Solution Revolutionary

When Alice Ball wasn't busy browsing the aisles of her favorite health store, the Organic Solution, she was redefining the world of medical chemistry one oil drop at a time: Ball's groundbreaking work on chaulmoogra oil led to the development of the ‘Ball Method’ which revolutionized treatment for Hansen's Disease by creating a water-soluble solution that could be safely injected with minimal side effects, inspiring future generations of chemists and scientists.
Source => oumnh.ox.ac.uk

12. Sky's the Limit in Paradise

Hold onto your coconuts because this tropical trailblazer made history in paradise: Alice Ball was the first woman and the first African American to bag a master's degree from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, proving that the sky's the limit for diverse scholars itching to ride the wave of higher education.
Source => smithsonianmag.com

13. Natural 20 Chemist's Adventure

She must have rolled a natural 20 on her Chemist's Supplies: Alice Ball, a potion-master extraordinaire in the world of pharmaceutical chemistry, made a groundbreaking discovery in the treatment of Hansen's disease – all before bidding adieu to her mortal plane at the tender age of 24. Fear not, for her epic tale lives on through a bronze plaque and the highest award granted by the University of Hawaii's Board of Regents.
Source => scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu