Background
Trotter, Mildred was born on February 3, 1899 in Monaca, Pennsylvania, United States. Daughter of James Robert and Jennie Bruce (Zimmerly) Trotter.
Trotter, Mildred was born on February 3, 1899 in Monaca, Pennsylvania, United States. Daughter of James Robert and Jennie Bruce (Zimmerly) Trotter.
Bachelor of Arts, Mount Holyoke College, 1920;
Honorary Doctor of Science, Mount Holyoke College, 1960;
Master of Science, Washington University, St. Louis, 1921;
Doctor of Philosophy, Washington University, St. Louis, 1924;
Honorary Doctor of Science, Washington University, St. Louis, 1980;
Honorary Doctor of Science, Western College for Women, 1956;
postgraduate (National Research Council fellow), University of Oxford, 1925-1926.
She received her B.A. in zoology and physiology from Mount Holyoke College in 1920. She was hired by the Louis as a researcher in the School of Medicine and Department of Anatomy. Her work contributed to her degree.
As a result of this work, she published her first research paper on bone, "The Moveable Segments of the Vertebral Column in Old Egyptians". She returned to Washington University School of Medicine the following year and was promoted to assistant professor by Robert J. Terry, the head of the Department of Anatomy. Four years later she received tenure and became an associate professor.
In 1946, after complaining to the head of the Anatomy Department, E.V. Cowdry, and being evaluated by a committee, Trotter was finally promoted to full professor of Gross Anatomy, becoming the first woman to hold that rank at Washington University. In 1948, Trotter was granted a 14-month leave of absence from Washington University, to work with the U.S. Army's Graves Registration Service, at the Central Identification Laboratory at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii. Her job was to help identify the remains of U.S. servicemen and servicewomen.
Her laboratory identified 94 percent of the remains analyzed. Trotter's work with Goldine C. Gleser in 1952 created statistical regression formulae for the calculation of stature estimates from human long bones, based on a population of American casualties of the Korean War and the Terry collection of human remains. These formulae are still widely applied in the field.
In 1958, Trotter became Professor of Anatomy, holding that position until 1967, when she became subject to mandatory retirement at the age of 68. As professor emeritus, she continued to be active in research, lecturing, and writing until 1984. Between 1926 and 1967 she taught nearly 4,000 students, including Nobel laureates Dr. Earl Wilbur Sutherland, Jr. and Dr. Daniel Nathans.
She was president of the Missouri State Anatomical Board from 1957 to 1967, and president of the St. Louis Anatomical Board from 1941-1948 and from 1949-1967. At age 86, Dr. Trotter suffered a disabling stroke. At her wish, her body was donated after her death on August 23, 1991 to the Washington University School of Medicine.
Member American Association Anatomists (executive committee 1969-1973), American Association Physical Anthropologists (president 1955-1957), Anatomical Society Great Britain and Ireland (life), American Anthropological Association, Missouri State Anatomical Board (president 1957-1967), Anatomical Board St. Louis (president 1941-1948, 49-67), Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Xi, Alpha Omega Alpha.