Jewel Isadora Plummer was born in Chicago on January 17, 1924, to Claribel (Cole) and Frank Plummer. Her father was a physician, a graduate of Cornell, and her mother studied interpretive dance. Her paternal grandfather graduated from Howard University in 1898 and was a pharmacist.
Jewel Plummer grew up in a household of achievers where education and access to opportunities were valued and sought after. She is the granddaughter of a freed slave and the daughter of one of the founders of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. Her early role models were successful African-Americans, and she grew up to become a highly honored role model to others.
She enjoyed biology in high school and was a member of the school's honor society. She received a B.S. in Biology from Talladega College in 1944. She received both a M.S. (1947) and a Ph.D. (1950) in Cell Physiology from New York University. She was a teaching fellow in the biology department at New York University starting in 1945, and in 1956 was appointed assistant professor in research surgery. Dr. Cobb married in 1954.
From 1960 to 1969 Dr. Cobb was professor of biology at Sarah Lawrence College. In 1969, she became professor of zoology at Connecticut College and then dean. In 1976 Dr. Cobb became dean and professor at Douglass College, the women's college at Rutgers University. In 1981 she joined California State University at Fullerton as president. She is also a professor of biological science emerita at Fullerton, and a trustee professor at California State University at Los Angeles.
As President, Dr. Cobb created a program to encourage women and minority students in the sciences, mathematics and engineering. She began working with the Marine Biological Laboratory in 1949 and has been a Member of the Corporation since 1972. Her research dealt with the skin cells that produce melanin and how they become cancerous, as well as how cancer therapies affect healthy cells.
Dr. Cobb has authored almost fifty scholarly books and articles. She is currently retired. Fullerton dedicated the Jewel Plummer Cobb Residence Halls in her honor.
Dr. Cobb has been an active member of the community at large, serving as a board member of California Science Center; COMAP, Inc.; Quality Education for Minorities Network; 21st Century Foundation; Board of Trustees of the California Institute of Technology; Talladega College; and Board of Fellows, Claremont
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