Beverly Guirard, a pioneer in a man’s world

Most folks in south Louisiana didn’t quite understand what she had done, but they were proud as can be when they found out in mid-November 1953 that Dr. Beverly Guirard had been a big contributor to the research that won the Nobel Prize for chemistry that year.

The award actually went to Dr. Fritz Albert Lipmann, who was a co-discoverer in 1945 of something called coenzyme A, which has to do with controlling the chemistry of tissues and cells in all sorts of organisms.

I looked it up, read two articles about it, and still can’t tell you exactly what it is. But it was important stuff, apparently, and his discoveries were substantially aided by Dr. Guirard’s work to establish the value of pantothenic acid on the coenzyme (which, I’m sure, you can instantly see the importance of without any explanation from me).

Lipmann studied medicine in Germany, but like many other Jewish scientists in Germany came to the United States in 1939 as the storm clouds of World War II began to gather. From 1949 to 1957 he was professor of biological chemistry at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Guirard was the eldest of four daughters of Robert J. and Ella French Guirard of St. Martinville. She graduated from St Martinville High, received her bachelor of science degree in 1936 from Southwestern Louisiana Institute, a master’s in organic chemistry in 1938 from LSU, and her PhD from the University of Texas in 1945.

According to an article in the Teche News on Nov. 13, 1953, Dr. Lipmann presented the paper that brought him to the attention of the Nobel committee at an American Chemical Society symposium in Austin, and in that presentation acknowledged “his indebtedness to the research done by Dr. Guirard.”

She did her research at the University of Texas until 1956, then moved to the University of California at Berkeley, and returned to Texas in 1976, working there until her retirement in 1990. She was recognized in the scientific community for articles published in scholarly journals and held membership in such organizations as the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Chemical Society, the American Society of Biological Chemists, and others.

According to her obituary, her “lifelong work was as a research biochemist, focusing on the synthesis, metabolism, and function of the B6 vitamin group.” That interest began early in her career; her first job was in Dr. Edmond Snell’s lab at the University of Texas. He was a pioneer researcher into B6, which had first been identified in 1936.

What is not mentioned in her obituary, or any of the other articles that I have found about her, is that Dr. Guirard broke ground not only in biochemistry but for women in science. It was a significant event when she received her doctorate. In those days, chemistry and physics and most other scientific fields were almost exclusively the domain of men. It was a rare woman who could break into the field, move up in the ranks, and receive peer recognition.

The pride neighbors and friends took in her accomplishments was well justified.

Dr. Guirard died at the age of 90 in her home in Austin on Jan. 17, 2006. She is buried in St. Martinville.

You can contact Jim Bradshaw at jhbradshaw@bellsouth.net or P.O. Box 1121, Washington LA 70589.