Education
Elizabeth was the eldest child of Margaret Jeffrey Buckley and Aaron Franklin Shull Doctor of Philosophy, both of whom were zoologists, and the niece of George H. Shull, a prominent geneticist. Elizabeth was fascinated by science and the scientific approach from an early age, leading her to study zoology at the University of Michigan, from which she graduated in 1933. After receiving a scholarship from Columbia University and completing her master"s degree in 1934, she went to work at the University of Chicago, obtaining her Doctor of Philosophy in zoology in 1937, and marrying fellow student William L. Russell the same year.