In 1941, McClintock joined the genetics group at Carnegie Institution of Washington's Department of Genetics at Cold Spring Harbor, in Long Island, New York, as a Researcher in Genetics. She began on a one-year research position. The position became full time the next year. At Cold Spring Harbor, she had no teaching responsibilities and no tenure worries. There was even land available for her to grow her corn. She would enjoy a renown career at Cold Spring Harbor for the next twenty-six years.
Her work included studies of how genes turned on or off physical characteristics in corn and explanations of how genetic information was exhibited, or not, in subsequent corn generations. Much of McClintock's work was decades ahead of other scientists who did not readily accept her findings. She researched widely in the area of genetic controllers. She avoided publishing, in part to avoid a negative spotlight.
Her intellectual peers marveled at her research and the depth of her understanding. Others found her work difficult to comprehend and layered with ponderous documentation. She loved in-depth conversations with knowledgeable geneticists and scientists. She was generous with her time to people who were truly interested in cytogenetics. She retired in 1967, but remained at Cold Spring Harbor as scientist emerita.
In 1983, she became the first woman to win an unshared Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Her invitation to a dinner for Nobel laureates referred to her as Ms. B. McClintock. Whether an oversight or a slight, according to Evelyn Witkin, the 81 year old McClintock noted, "I don't get no respect!"
Barbara McClintock died on September 2, 1992, at Huntington Hospital in Huntington, New York. A selection of her work is available online at the National Library of Medicine.
Honors and Awards
- President, Genetics Society of America, 1945
- Achievement Award, American Association of University Women, 1947
- Merit Award, Botanical Society of America, 1957
- Kimber Genetics Award, National Academy of Sciences, 1967
- Distinguished Service Award, Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1967
- National Medal of Science, 1970
- Rosenstiel Award for Basic Medical Research, 1978
- Thomas Hunt Morgan Medal, Genetics Society of America, 1981
- Honorary Member, The Society of Developmental Biology, 1981
- MacArthur Prize Fellow Laureate, 1981
- Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award, 1981
- Wolf Foundation Award, 1981
- Honorary Member, The Genetical Society, Great Britain, 1982
- Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1983
- Honorary degrees from University of Rochester, Western College for
