Jessie L. Ternberg*

Jessie Ternberg was born in 1924 in Corning, California. When she was young, her father deserted the family, leaving her mother and grandmother to raise Ternberg in a small town in Minnesota. An $800 scholarship opened the door to higher education for Ternberg, and she attended Grinnell College in Iowa in 1946. Ternberg won a fellowship in biochemistry to the University of Texas, then a scholarship to Washington University's medical school in St. Louis. By working summers in biochemistry, she was able to finance her education.

In 1954, Ternberg returned to St. Louis to begin her surgical residency at Barnes Hospital. She was the first woman surgical resident at Barnes, which offered no co-ed housing for residents. She had to sleep in the nursing students' quarters, where she was often locked out because her long hours required her to miss the curfew. On those occasions, she slept on a gurney in the recovery room.

In 1958, Ternberg became the first woman chief resident and the first woman surgeon on the Washington University medical school staff. In 1973, she was the first woman to be elected head of the university's School of Medicine faculty council. She was promoted to professor of surgery in 1971. Ternberg was instrumental in establishing the Division of Pediatric Surgery and was named its chief in 1972. She was also the first woman to serve as president of the St. Louis Surgical Society.

For 13 years, Ternberg was the only full-time general surgeon on staff at St. Louis Children's Hospital. From 1972 to 1990, she was pediatric surgeon-in-chief and director of the hospital's pediatric surgery division. She routinely performed more than 500 operations a year and was known for her expertise in correcting congenital gastrointestinal deficiencies in children. In 2000, Ternberg was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Ternberg believed that her greatest contribution to society was taking care of children. Honored by her Horatio Alger Award, Ternberg supported the Association's educational programs and encourages the Horatio Alger Scholars to discover what they really like to do, and then to use the necessary efforts to make their dreams come true.