She was the first woman to earn a Doctor of Philosophy in political economy (1900) at the University of California, Berkeley, the first woman to become a full professor at University of California, Berkeley, and the first woman to head a department at University of California, Berkeley.
She served as vice president of the American Economic Association, and also served for a decade on the California State Board of Charities and Correction. She was the executive chairperson of the child welfare department of the Women's Committee of the Council of National Defense, and she also served as chief of the council’s child conservation section.
She published French Revolution and Modern French Socialism (1901), and Getting and Spending at the Professional Standard of Living (1927).
