Mary Engle Pennington

Pioneering bacteriological chemist, food scientist, and refrigeration engineer Dr. Mary Engle Pennington, inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2018, was a perishable food expert who developed standards that have been used around the world. Pennington discovered her love of science at the library at age 12. She attended the University of Pennsylvania, which at the time wasn’t open to women and did not award her a bachelor’s degree. She was able to earn a PhD from the institution, however. Her work set the standards for the safe handling of fish, eggs, poultry, and milk. Those efforts prevented many deaths, saved huge quantities of food for consumption, and improved the health and well-being of people worldwide. Her many honors include induction into the National Women’s Hall of Fame and the American Poultry Historical Society Hall of Fame. The chapter includes a discussion of food preservation techniques from prehistory through the present.