Background
Audrey Stevens Niyogi was born on a farm near Leigh, Nebraska, the third child of Louise and John Stevens.
Audrey Stevens Niyogi was born on a farm near Leigh, Nebraska, the third child of Louise and John Stevens.
She had an older brother Travis and a fraternal twin sister Ardyce. Later the family moved to another farm about 10 miles from Wayne, Nebraska. When teenagers, Audrey and Ardyce boarded with a family in town so they could attend high school without the long commute.
Audrey pursued the study of chemistry following in her older brother’s footsteps, who pursued a career in organic chemistry.
After 2 years at the Nebraska State Teachers College (now Wayne State College), she earned her Bachelor of Science in chemistry from Iowa State College (now Iowa State University) in 1953, and her Doctor of Philosophy in biochemistry from Case Western Reserve University in 1958. While a postdoctoral researcher at National Institutes of Health, Audrey Stevens independently conducted original experiments demonstrating the synthesis of Ribonucleic acid in East. coli cells.
Thus, she is one of 4 researchers credited with the discovery of Ribonucleic acid polymerase. From there, Audrey became a professor at Saint Louis University School of Medicine and then spent time at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, before settling at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where she spent the rest of her career.
In 1998, Audrey Stevens Niyogi was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in recognition of her many valuable contributions to the field of biochemistry.