Hazel Branch
Hazel Elisabeth Branch was an American entomologist and academic. She was a professor and head of the Department of Zoology at Wichita State University. Branch was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the president of the Kansas Academy of Science.
Early life
Branch was born on October 1, 1886, in Concordia, Kansas. She attended the public schools in Cawker City, Kansas and Beloit, Kansas. She attended the University of Kansas, where she received a Bachelor's degree in 1908 and a Master's degree in English in 1912. She was a member of Phi Beta Kappa.She received a Ph.D. in entomology from Cornell University in 1921. While at Cornell, she was a founding member and treasurer of Sigma Delta Epsilon.
Career
After graduating from the University of Kansas, Branch was a teacher and preceptress at the College of the Sisters of Bethany in Topeka, Kansas. She taught at Cornell University from 1921 to 1922, after receiving her Ph.D.In 1922, Branch joined Fairmount College, as a professor and head of the Department of Biology. In 1927, she became a professor and head of the Department of Zoology. Her research focused on preventative medicine, show the need for a balanced diet and the negative effects of alcohol and nicotine. She also studied pollution caused by dumping raw milk in streams and the negative impact of nicotine on rat reproduction.
Many of her students majored in pre-medicine. 197 of her students became physicians, 56 became dentists, 22 became nurses, and one became a phytopathologist. She sponsored the Pi Kappa Psi sorority at Fairmount College in 1938. She also organized Phi Beta Kappa at Wichita State.
She retired as a professor emeritus of zoology in 1956. After retiring, she turned to writing and published a scientific book about salamanders in 1959.
Branch was included in the 1938 edition of Men of Science. Branch was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She was a member of the American Society of Zoologists, the Academy for the Advancement of Science, and the Entomological Society of America. Branch was also the president of the Kansas Academy of Science and president of the Wichita chapter of the American Association of University Professors.
Personal life
Branch lived at 3756 E. Douglas in Wichita, Kansas. She was active in the Wichita Science Club for local science teachers and the Junior Committee of the Kansas Academy of Science. She received the Alumni Recognition Award in 1957. She was a member of the St. James Episcopal Church in Wichita.Branch died on August 24, 1973, in Wichita. In 1975, the Hazel Branch Endowed Scholarship at Wichita State University was established from her estate, and awarded to students majoring in biology with the intent to attend a medical school.
Publications
Books
- Branch, Hazel E.