SreyRam Kuy (Cambodia)

As part of the year-long 50WomenAtYale150 commemoration, OISS will highlight international alumnae—women of all generations and backgrounds from around the world who have gone on to make fascinating and noble contributions.

OISS welcomes suggestions for future highlights. Please email Uma Shankar (link sends e-mail) with your suggestions.

Shirley Yeung (China)

Born in China, Shirley Yeung came to the US after receiving her undergraduate degree in Beijing. She received her MPPM degree from the Yale School of Management in 1993. She is the founder and Managing Partner of Dragonrise Capital in Shanghai, which invests in high-growth tech, media, and telecom companies.

Yeung was one of the earliest investors in Chinese internet startups, many of which became successful public companies, including Tencent Technologies, the largest internet media/gaming company which owns the Wechat platform; Sohu.com and Sina.com, and Focus Media Holdings. She is currently a venture capitalist focusing on artificial intelligence and related technologies.

Formerly she was a VP in the Equity Capital Markets Group in J.P. Morgan’s Hong Kong office, participating in the execution of the overseas IPOs of China Telecom, China Mobile, and China Unicom. Prior to relocating to Asia, Yeung managed a pension fund portfolio of $3.5 billion in non-U.S. equity investments for NYNEX in NY.

Yeung serves on the China Council for International Investment Promotion, sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce and on the Yale SOM Board of Advisors. She is an adjunct professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

Mirei Endara de Heras (Panama)

Mirei Endara de Heras from Panama, received a Masters in Environmental Studies degree from Yale School of the Environment (formerly Forestry & Environmental Studies) in 1994. She holds a B.A. degree from Wellesley College. She is currently addressing marine and coastal trash and water management issues, trying to get private sector and civil society’s proactive involvement.

Endara de Heras was the administrator of the Panama Environmental Authority (1994-1999), leading important institutional transformation in each term. The legislation passed at that time allowed for increased institutional capacity, authority and an integrated approach to the environment, and promoted a sustainable development agenda for the entire country. She served as Panama’s first Minister of Environment between 2014-2017.

As a board member of Fundación Smithsonian, she supports the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute’s work in Panama and Latin America. She is a Fellow of the inaugural class and the first Executive Director of Fundación Central America Leadership Initiative, which helped to create the Central American portion of Aspen Global Leadership Network in 2005. She has served on Asociación Nacional para la Conservación de la Naturaleza, the oldest conservation organization in Panama amongst other non-profits.

Mariana Sarmiento (Colombia)

Mariana Sarmiento from Colombia received her B.A degree, Magna Cum Laude, from Tulane University and graduated with a M.E.M degree in Environmental Policy and Management from the Yale School of the Environment (formerly Forestry & Environmental Studies) in 2011. Sarmiento is the 2017 recipient of the Mulago Foundation’s Conservation Fellow award.

Sarmiento has expertise in environmental policy design and implementation, environmental markets, corporate environmental sustainability and conflict analysis. She has helped companies, governments, and international agencies to mainstream environmental issues in the decision making process in Latin America and the U.S. Sarmiento had also worked for the Ministry of Environment in Colombia, the Wildlife Conservation Society and consulted for the World Bank.

Sarmiento is the founder and CEO of Terrasos, a strategic environmental consultancy. In 2014, Terrasos initiated the first Habitat Bank in Colombia and Latin America. It is Colombia’s only provider of environmental offset solutions using a performance-based approach within Colombia’s regulatory framework following a Presidential Order signed in December 2016. Its current clients include private companies in the mining and energy sector as well as international and national agencies.

Simone Buitendijk (Netherlands)

Born in the Hague, Simone Buitendijk studied medicine at Utrecht University and received a M.Ph degree at the Yale School of Medicine in 1990, where she had evaluated medications taken during early pregnancy and its relationship to maternal attributes. She received her Doctorate in Epidemiology at Leiden University and her research was on IVF pregnancies and their follow-up.

Dr. Buitendijk, who specializes in women's health, is currently a Vice Provost for Education at Imperial College London, and is slated to become Vice Chancellor of the University of Leeds in September 2020. Earlier, she was a senior researcher in perinatal epidemiology at the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research. As a Professor, Vice Rector Magnificus and a member of the Executive Board at Leiden University, she led several strategies to improve educational experiences and innovative teaching practices. Dr. Buitendijk was the first person to hold a Chair in Primary Care Obstetrics in the Netherlands.

Under Buitendijk’s leadership, Leiden University became one of the first universities in Europe to develop massive open and private online courses. While at Imperial College, Buitendijk partnered with Coursera, creating a series of online courses around artificial intelligence.

Anees Chagpar (Canada)

Born in Canada, Anees Chagpar obtained B.S. and M.D. degrees from University of Alberta, M.Sc from University of Saskatchewan, M.Ph from Harvard University, M.A from University of Louisville and an MBA from School of Management at Yale University in 2014. She is currently a Professor in the Department of Surgery at Yale School of Medicine.

Dr. Chagpar is a breast surgical oncologist who participates in investigator-initiated and group clinical trials. Her research interests span from collaborative translational science to clinical research to population science and outcomes based research using large databases. Her most recent ground-breaking work in breast-conservation surgery techniques published in the New England Journal of Medicine reduces the chance of multiple surgeries for breast cancer patients.

Dr. Chagpar built the first nationally accredited Breast Center in Kentucky. She led Yale’s effort to become the first National Cancer Institute designated cancer center in the Northeast to have a nationally accredited breast center. She is an active member of American Society of Clinical Oncology and a Fellow of the prestigious Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and the American College of Surgeons.

SreyRam Kuy (Cambodia)

Born in Cambodia, two year old SreyRam Kuy escaped from the Khmer Rouge but was severely injured during a bombing in a refugee camp in Thailand. She was treated by a Red Cross surgeon, which inspired her to later become the first female Cambodian refugee to work as a surgeon in the United States.

Kuy obtained her B.S. and M.D. degree in Oregon. She graduated with a Master's degree at the Yale School of Medicine in 2009. Dr. Kuy served as Special Advisor to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and also became the first woman appointed as Deputy Under Secretary for Health for Community Care. Dr. Kuy is currently a surgeon at the Michael DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Texas. She is also a writer, researcher and healthcare executive.

Dr. Kuy led efforts to decrease surgical mortality and improve healthcare for veterans. As part of her efforts to curb the opioid epidemic, she championed medicaid policies resulting in a 40% reduction in prescriptions among Louisiana medicaid patients. A winner of several awards and Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, she is the author of the textbook 50 Studies Every Surgeon Should Know.

Yoobin Son (South Korea)

Born in South Korea, Yoobin Son received her B. M degree from the Curtis Institute of Music and Master of Music degree from Yale University in 2009. She also received her professional studies certificate and artist diploma from the Manhattan School of Music.

Flutist Son secured a position in the New York Philharmonic in 2012, becoming the first Korean musician to join the orchestra’s woodwind section. Son, who has served as the principal flutist in the New Haven Symphony Orchestra and in the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra at Lincoln Center, is also active as a soloist and chamber musician. She has appeared with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and at the Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont.

Son’s awards include first prize at the National Flute Association’s Soloist Competition, grand prize at the Florida Orchestra’s Young Artist Competition and the conductor’s award at the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra’s Young Artist Auditions. A music-education advocate, Son was a member of Ensemble Connect which works closely with the New York City Department of Education and teaches at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development.

Rose Clarke Nanyonga (Uganda)

Born in Bamunanika, Uganda, Rose Nanyonga realized her dream of becoming a nurse with encouragement from a Northern Irish couple. She received her B.S. in Nursing from Arkansas Tech University and a M.S. in Nursing from Baylor University. In 2015, she was awarded a D. Phil by Yale School of Nursing. Her Ph.D thesis was on the topic of integrative examination of nursing leadership in Uganda.

In 1989, Nanyonga started as a nursing assistant at Kiwoko Hospital and later became the Director of Clinical Operations at International Hospital Kampala. Currently Dr. Nanyonga is the Vice Chancellor of Clarke International University in Uganda and also teaches a course in Health Policy and Planning and another in Advanced Strategic Management.

In 2009, Dr. Nanyonga pioneered a grassroots campaign to end ritualistic child sacrifice in Uganda. She has received awards and serves on several non-profit, corporate boards including the Narrow Road International Aid; REMI East Africa and The Sinza Project. Dr. Nanyonga is a sought after inspirational and motivational speaker. Her leadership training series: Dream, Inspire, Enable has been instrumental in enhancing leadership skills for senior nursing officers in Uganda.

Lina Getachew Ayenew (Ethiopia)

Lina Ayenew was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. She received dual degrees from Yale University, a B.A. in Political Science and an M.P.H in 2010 and 2011 respectively. She is a social entrepreneur and writer.

Ayenew’s interest in China was piqued as an undergraduate student when she received a fellowship from Yale-China Association to teach English in China. Her trip led her to learn the Chinese language and explore the native Chinese culture as well as its presence in Ethiopia.

This rich experience resulted in her book, a first of its kind to teach Mandarin to native Amharic speakers, which is the official language of Ethiopia. Ayenew has also recently published The Complete Beginner’s Guide to China-Africa Relations. This five book series covers the period between 2014-2018 and explores Ethiopian-Chinese bi-lateral collaborations, China’s influence on Africa’s economic and technological development and political influence in the 21st century.

Zuraina Majid (Malaysia)

Born in Kuala Lumpur, Zuraina Majid received her Bachelor’ degree from University of Malaya, M.A. from Cambridge University and Ph.D in Archeology (1979) from Yale University.

A historian and the first ever archeologist in Malaysia, Majid was a Professor of Anthropology at University of Malaya, Director of the Center for Archaeological Research and a Commissioner for Malaysia’s Heritage Resources. She took part in excavations of the Lower Paleolithic industry near Kota-Tampan and Lenggong and in Thailand and Philippines.

Professor Majid has written four books and published numerous breakthrough articles. The most important one is her edited volume titled The Perak Man and other Prehistoric Skeletons of Malaysia. This major volume, a first of its kind provides an overview of the recovery and analysis of early Homo Sapiens and human remains from archaeological site excavations in Malaysia.

Dr. Majid is credited with developing the field of Malaysian archaeology and training a future generation of archaeologists. She was awarded the prestigious Penang Government Medal, Order of the State of Perak for the Defender of the Crown, and the title of Dato. Her signature and name are inscribed on many heritage plaques throughout Malaysia.

Yoriko Kawaguchi (Japan)

Born in Tokyo, Yoriko Kawaguchi received a B.A. from the University of Tokyo and an M. Phil in Economics from Yale University in 1972. She is currently a Professor at Meiji Institute for Global Affairs in Tokyo and on the Advisory Committee of Tokyo Foundation, a public policy think tank.

As a Japanese politician, Kawaguchi has held many key positions in the government, including Minister of the Environment, the first female Minister of Foreign Affairs and Special Adviser to the Prime Minister (foreign affairs) amongst others. She was elected to the House of Councillors in 2005, serving two terms through 2013. Kawaguchi also served as a Minister at the Embassy of Japan to the U.S.

A former economist at the World Bank, Kawaguchi has served on the board of the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders Foundation. She co-chaired an International Commission on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament. She is the recipient of several awards, including the ‘Aguila Azteca Medal’ from Mexico, 'Anniversary Medal' from St Petersburg during their 300th celebration, ‘Gran Cruz Extraordinaria’ from Paraguay and the ‘Star of Jerusalem’ from the Palestinian National Authority.

Diala Shamas (Palestine)

Born in East Jerusalem, Diala Shamas came to the U.S. to study at Yale University where she received both her B.A. and J.D. degrees. Shamas is a powerful advocate for international human rights, civil rights and immigration.

She has spent time in Palestine working intensively on humanitarian issues. Her community advocacy also includes assistance to Yemeni families and her work with refugee policies in Greece and Australia. In 2018, she participated in a congressional briefing on recent U.S. policy changes especially those affecting the Palestinian children growing up with limited prospects under military occupation.

Shamas was a clinical supervising attorney and Lecturer in Law at Stanford Law School, and a senior staff attorney supervising the CLEAR project at CUNY School of Law. Currently, as an attorney at the Center for Constitutional rights, Shamas challenges government/law enforcement decisions made under the guise of national security. She was on the legal team challenging NY City Police Department’s surveillance practices that resulted in a historic settlement reforming the police practices. She has been featured in Washington Post, New York Times, NPR, and CNN.

Maria de los Angeles (Mexico)

Born in Mexico, Maria de los Angeles came to the U.S. at age 11. She graduated with a BFA from Pratt Institute and received an MFA in Painting & Printmaking from Yale School of Art (2015). She is currently on the Faculty of Pratt Institute, New York.

A multidisciplinary artist who focuses on migration, displacement and identity through her drawing, painting, printmaking, fashion, performance, sculpture and installation, Maria de los Angeles’s work has been featured in many exhibitions and magazines. She was an Artist in Residence at El Museo del Barrio in New York, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Mana Contemporary in New Jersey amongst others.

The Schneider Museum of Art in Ashland, Oregon, featured de los Angeles’ first solo exhibition in 2018. Her largest solo exhibition (‘Tierra de Rosas’) at the Museum of Sonoma County featured new works including 10 paintings, 3 sculptures and an installation with more than 300 drawings and dresses made by the artist. She was recognized by the Community Action Partnership award for her creation of an arts program for youth and by the Blair Dickinson Memorial Prize from Yale.

Samantha Power (Ireland)

Samantha Power was born in London and raised in Ireland, and came to the U.S. at age nine. She received her B.A degree from Yale College in 1992 and her J.D. Degree from Harvard Law School. She is a well-known diplomat, author, and journalist, and is currently on the faculty at Harvard University.

Power’s career spans many roles including a war correspondent in former Yugoslavia, a faculty member at Harvard, and a senior adviser to then-Senator Barack Obama. She became a special assistant to President Obama and served as a Director of Human Rights in the National Security Council.

Appointed as a U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations in 2013, Power worked on U.N. reforms, women’s/LGBT/human rights and on refugees. Listed as one of the powerful/influential woman by Forbes/Time magazine, and a winner of the 2016 Henry Kissinger Prize amongst other prestigious prizes, she was also featured in the documentary Watchers of the Sky, for her contribution to preventing genocide. She has authored many books and won a Pulitzer prize for her first book A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide.

Wangechi Mutu (Kenya)

Wangechi Mutu was born in Nairobi, Kenya and came to the U.S. to study Fine Arts and Anthropology. She obtained her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at Cooper Union, NY and a Master of Fine Arts degree from Yale School of Art in 2000.

Mutu is a prominent award winning visual artist known primarily for her painting, sculpture, film and performance work. Mutu’s distinctive works are usually an amalgam of different mediums including sculpture, video and collage. She has also created an animated video called ‘The End of Eating Everything.’

Considered to be in the genre of Afrofuturism, her pieces are unique leading the viewer to ponder about race and gender. Works based on femininity are a dominant theme in her various depictions, which explore self-image, gender constructs, cultural trauma and environmental destruction. Mutu’s unusual and outstanding works, which have employed unusual ingredients like fur and glitter, have been exhibited at some of the most prestigious museums in the world including the Museums of Modern Art in New York and San Francisco, Tate Modern in London, and the Museum Kunstpalast in Düsseldorf amongst others.

Kori Udovički (Serbia)

Born in Bolivia, Kori Udovički is a Serbian politician. After graduating from the University of Belgrade, she came to Yale and received her MA and Ph.D in Economics. She worked on inter-regional trade and integration between the republics of the former Yugoslavia.

She was the founder and President of the Center for Advanced Economic Studies, a Belgrade NGO that works for the advancement of economic research and education in South East Europe. She was the President of the Board of Directors of the Foundation for the Advancement of Economics.

On a regional level, she served her country in key positions as Special Advisor to the Serbian Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, as a Minister of Energy and Mining, the Governor of the National Bank of Serbia, Minister of Public Administration and in the powerful position of Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia.

On an international level, she worked at the International Monetary Fund in Washington, served as an Assistant Administrator of the UNDP and Director of the Regional Bureau of UNDP for Europe and Commonwealth of Independent States and finally as the Assistant Secretary-General of the UN.

Radhika Coomaraswamy (Sri Lanka)

Born in Sri Lanka, Ms. Coomaraswamy is a women’s rights lawyer, diplomat, and women’s advocate. She graduated with a B.A. degree from Yale University in 1974 and received her J.D. and LLM degrees from Columbia and Harvard Universities respectively.

As a strong advocate for women's rights, she reported to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights on many different aspects of violence against women and international trafficking. Reports included field visits to many countries. Based on her expertise, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon appointed Ms. Coomaraswamy as the lead author on a global study regarding the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, which addressed the “disproportionate and unique impact of armed conflict on women.” This study was used to assess progress on the worldwide implementation of the resolution. Most recently, she was appointed as a member of the United Nations’ fact-finding mission on atrocities against Myanmar’s Rohingya population.

Ms. Coomaraswamy has held many influential and significant leadership roles including an appointment as the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations (the third-highest rank in the U.N.). She has also been the recipient of distinguished national and international awards in recognition of her work.

Lupita Nyong'o (Kenya and Mexico)

Born in Mexico, Lupita Nyong'o grew up in an artistic family in Kenya. She self identifies as Kenyan-Mexican with dual citizenship. She came to the U.S. for higher studies and received a BA from Hampshire College. She graduated with an MFA degree from Yale School of Drama in 2012. In her youth spent in Kenya, she was active in theater, starred in a TV series, and directed and produced the documentary In My Genes about the discriminatory treatment of Kenya's albino population in 2009. A proponent of women’s and animal rights and historic preservation, she authored a bestselling children’s book titled Sulwe.

Her major breakthrough came in the movie 12 Years a Slave in which her acting was critically acclaimed. She won an Academy Award for 'Best Supporting Actress' for her role in this movie and is the first Mexican-Kenyan actress to receive this honor. With other key roles in movies and Broadway under her belt, Nyong’o has won numerous awards/nominations and accolades. Her next projects are to produce and star in Born a Crime, a film adaptation of Trevor Noah's memoir and in a television series based on Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's novel Americana.

Shina Inouye Kan ( Japan)

Shina Kan was born on the island of Honshu in 1899. She completed her undergraduate studies at Japan Women’s University and spent a year at the Punahou School in Hawaii. She attended Yale Divinity School courses and received her Ph.D in Philosophy from Yale Graduate School in 1927. Later in life, she took additional courses in social welfare at Columbia University and Union Theological Seminary in New York.

As a professor at Japan Women’s University, she represented the Japan Association of University Women at the Pan-Pacific Women’s Conferences in Hawaii and Manila. Dr. Kan spent 40 years as an academic while simultaneously pursuing her work in furthering women's rights. She was a member of the executive board of the Japan Women’s Peace Association and reported on their progress to the Institute of Pacific Relations, an international NGO established in 1925.

Considering the time period, Dr. Kan’s many leadership roles are impressive. They include dean of the Department of Social Welfare at Japan Women's University, member of the executive board for the International Association of Schools of Social Work, and president of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom in 1963.

An-my Lê (Vietnam)

Born in Saigon, An-my Lê came to the US as a teenager fleeing Vietnam at the end of the war. After completing her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in biology from Stanford University, she received a Master of Fine Arts from Yale School of Art in 1993. Her work has been exhibited in solo shows at several prestigious venues including the NY MOMA and galleries abroad.

A photographer by profession, her work depicts the impact and havoc created by war, shaped by her own personal experience. Her first book Small Wars is a collection of her trilogy of photographs depicting post-war Vietnam, re-enactment of the Vietnam War and Marines training for the Gulf Wars. Her recent book Events Ashore captures the work done by the US Navy over a 9 year period as well as interesting scientific missions to the Artic, Antarctic and humanitarian missions in Asia and Africa. A winner of the MacArthur Fellowship, An-my Lê is also a recipient of the National Science Foundation Antarctic Artists and Writers Program Award and the Guggenheim Fellowship. She is currently a Professor of Photography at Bard College.

Eva Hesse (Germany)

Eva Hesse’s family fled Nazi Germany when she was a toddler and moved to the U.S. a year later. After attending many area schools in New York for Art, including Cooper Union, Hesse transferred to Yale and received her B.A. in 1959. At Yale, she was a student of the famous Josef Albers and was influenced by Abstract Expressionism.

While her earlier work was in abstract drawings and paintings, Hesse is well known for her creative uses of materials and her ability to usher in and compete in a male-dominated Postminimal art movement in the 1960’s. Hesse was a pioneer in the use of unconventional materials such as latex, plastic and fiberglass in her sculptures but they also posed a distinct disadvantage in their preservation. Her collections can be viewed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Museum Wiesbaden in Germany, and Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College. She suffered an untimely death at the age of 34 from a brain tumor. The 2016 documentary Eva Hesse captured both the painful aspects of her life as well as her tremendous impact on the art world.

Indra Krishnamoorthy Nooyi (India)

After completing her undergraduate studies at the University of Madras and graduate studies from the Indian Institute of Management (Calcutta) in India, Nooyi traveled to the Yale School of Management (SOM). A member of only the third class to graduate from SOM, she received a master’s degree in public and private management in 1980. As a business executive, Nooyi had a long career at various companies before landing at Pepsi where she served as CEO for 12 years. Nooyi restructured the company with mergers and acquisitions and steered the company towards healthier options and promoted environmental sustainability.

Listed in the top ranks of the most Influential/powerful people in the world, Nooyi was a commanding female CEO in the business world. An inductee of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, she has served on many governing boards including the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum and the International Rescue Committee. She is also a Successor Trustee of the Yale Corporation. As the staunchest supporter of the school, Nooyi has endowed the deanship of the School of Management.

Margaret Marshall (South Africa)

After completing her undergraduate studies at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, Margaret Marshall moved to the U.S. and pursued a Master’s degree in Education at Harvard and a J.D at Yale Law School (1976). During the apartheid era, as a student activist, she led the National Union of South African Students dedicated to achieving equality for all South Africans. Her legal career in Boston included years of private practice and five years as General Counsel at Harvard University.

In 1999, Marshall was appointed as Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, the first woman to serve in that capacity in its 300 year history. Among the more than 200 opinions, Marshall wrote the decision in Goodridge v Department of Public Health that declared that the Massachusetts constitution does not permit the state to deny citizens the right to same-sex marriage. A Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Marshall has had a significant and enduring impact on Yale, both through the Law School and as the first woman Senior Fellow of Yale Corporation.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Nigeria)

After completing secondary school and a year and a half of medical school at the University of Nigeria, Adichie came to the United States to study at Drexel University and then Eastern Connecticut State. Continuing the writing career she began in Nigeria, Adichie completed a master’s degree in creative writing at Johns Hopkins and in 2008 received a master’s degree in African Studies from Yale.

A self-proclaimed champion of feminism, Adichie has authored many critically acclaimed books such as ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’, ‘Americanah’ and other prize winning short stories. Her 2009 TED Talk, “The Danger of a Single Story,” has been viewed about 20 million times, a perennial favorite among the media platform’s “ideas worth spreading”. A winner of the prestigious Macarthur Fellowship and an inductee of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Adichie returned to Yale in 2019 where she was the first African to deliver the Class Day address and was awarded a Yale honorary degree.

Grace Evelyn Pickford (United Kingdom)

Born at the turn of the 20th century in England, Grace Evelyn Pickford received her PhD from Yale in 1931 for research based on studies of her South African oligochaete worm collections. Prior to coming to Yale, she completed her undergraduate studies at Cambridge University receiving the equivalent of a B.A. (Cambridge did not grant B.A. degrees to women at the time.)

Dr. Pickford is best known for work in comparative endocrinology, particularly the endocrinology of fishes. Her monograph “The Physiology of the Pituitary Gland of Fishes” is a classic and set the stand for endocrinologists who study lower vertebrates. At Yale, Pickford was promoted to full professor in the penultimate year of her 40-year career. The International Society of Comparative Endocrinology established the Grace E. Pickford Medal in 1980 to be awarded to scholars for excellence in the field.