Women & Science Portrait Initiative

Gertrude Perlmann was recruited to the Rockefeller Institute in 1946 as a visiting investigator. Previously a research fellow at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Dr. Perlmann spent the remainder of her career at Rockefeller, rising to the rank of full professor in 1973, a year before her death. She is highly regarded for her work in protein chemistry, particularly her discoveries about the structure of pepsin and pepsinogen. In 1965, Dr. Perlmann was awarded the American Chemical Society’s Garvan Medal for her outstanding scientific accomplishments and service to the field of chemistry.

Born in Czechoslovakia, Dr. Perlmann earned her doctorate from the German University of Prague. She did her postdoctoral training with Dr. Fritz Lipmann at the Biological Institute of the Carlsberg Institute in Copenhagen. On the eve of World War II, Dr. Perlmann emigrated to the United States, taking a position at Harvard Medical School.