EMMA SHELTON

SHELTON Dr. EMMA SHELTON Retired research biologist at the National Cancer Institute and pioneer in the field of cellular biology, died March 29, 2017 at her home in Bethesda of complications from Alzheimer's. She was 96. Born in 1920, Emma Shelton was one of those rare individuals who knew at an early age what she wanted to do in life. At a time when professional opportunities for women were greatly limited, she decided she wanted to be a scientist after visiting her ceramic chemist father's lab at age nine. She persevered on that path, earning a BS in Bacteriology at the University of Maryland (1941) and an MA in Zoology at George Washington University (1946), the latter while working full time as a cytology technician at the National Cancer Institute's Laboratory of Biology. After a year of study at the University of Chicago, she earned a PhD in Cell Biology at Brown University (1949), becoming the first woman awarded a full scholarship for doctoral studies by NCI. In 1949, Dr. Shelton joined NCI as a research biologist and remained there until her retirement in 1978. Following her retirement, she became Secretary and Executive Director of the American Society for Cell Biology (1978-81). During her long tenure at NCI, Dr. Shelton was one of the first women to head her own lab, conducting path-breaking research into the causes of cancer. Her niece recalls visiting her lab in the late 1950s and being shown the first Siemens electron microscope in use at NCI, which greatly advanced biologists' ability to analyze cells and their components. Dr. Shelton published widely, and her works were cited in many studies conducted in the United States and abroad. In 1964, Dr. Shelton spent one year at l'Institut Louis Pasteur in Paris, France, exchanging knowledge about research methods with cell biologists in Europe and Japan. She traveled to numerous professional conferences and had a network of colleagues that spanned the globe. She served as a mentor and inspiration to many students, technicians, and aspiring scientists and professionals who were fortunate to know or work with her. She also was a strong role model for her niece, who admired her professional accomplishments as much as her never-say-die approach to life - such as chopping wood in her seventies and traveling the world on countless nature tours and other adventures. Upon her retirement from NCI in 1978, Dr. Shelton was awarded the Public Health Service's Superior Service Award "for fundamental contributions to an understanding of biological organization at both the cellular and molecular levels." After retirement from NCI and the ASCB, Dr. Shelton remained an avid learner and intrepid traveler. With her good friend and former colleague, Dr. Florence Kate Millar, Shelton retraced the path of the Old Silk Road in China by train and bus just a few years after the People's Republic of China opened its doors to foreign visitors. At age 68, she and Millar trekked in the Himalayas, taking pride in being the only members of their group not to ride donkeys provided for four-legged transportation. Dr. Shelton was active in the Montgomery County Democratic Party and the Audubon Naturalist Society, and she supported many nonprofit charities and organizations working for a more just society and healthier planet. She had a passion for nature and was an accomplished bird watcher, taking part in numerous "Bloomin' Birdathon" bird counts through ANS. She also was a devoted gardener and dedicated genealogist, publishing a book about her great-great-great-great-grandfather, William Winchester, who laid out the town of Westminster, Maryland, in 1764 (Historical Society of Carroll County, MD). Dr. Shelton was predeceased by her parents, Dr. George Reed Shelton and Eva Alexander Shelton and by her brother, John Alexander Shelton. She is survived by her dear friend, Dr. Florence Kate Millar of the home in Bethesda; nephew John Thomas Shelton and wife, Wendy; niece Joanna Reed Shelton and husband Richard Erb; and great-nephews Reed Shelton and Christopher Shelton and their families. Members of her extended family and large circle of friends also survive her. The family greatly appreciates the compassion and dedication shown by Dr. Shelton's caretakers, particularly Sheba Ball, Aisha Bah, Fatmata Bah, and Taibu Daramy, and by the entire staff of Montgomery Hospice. There will be no services, although a celebration of Dr. Shelton's life will be held at a later date. The family asks that memorial contributions in Emma's name be made to the Audubon Naturalist Society, 8940 Jones Mill Rd, Chevy Chase, MD 20815 (www.audubonnaturalist.org) or the Southern Poverty Law Center, 400 Washington Avenue, Montgomery, AL 36104 (www.splcenter.org).There will be no services, although a celebration of Dr. Shelton's life will be held at a later date. The family asks that memorial contributions in Emma's name be made to the Audubon Naturalist Society, 8940 Jones Mill Rd, Chevy Chase, MD 20815 (www.audubonnaturalist.org) or the Southern Poverty Law Center, 400 Washington Avenue, Montgomery, AL 36104 (www.splcenter.org).