katherine everett gilbert, duke's first woman professor

By Hadeel Abdelhy

In 1930, Katherine Everett Gilbert was hired to be the first woman full professor at Duke, working on research on the philosophy of aesthetics. In 1938 during Duke’s centennial year, The Gilbert-Addoms Residence Hall is named after her and her colleague, Ruth Margery Addoms, who taught botany at Duke for over twenty years.[1] We believe an additional statue, possibly as The Ruby Arts Center, would both address an obvious “history desert,” honor her contribution and highlight Duke’s long-standing promotion of the arts.

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[1]. McDonald, Amy, “Gilbert-Addoms Residence Hall,” February 27, 2014, https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/uarchives/history/exhibits/building-names/east/gilbert-addoms.