Background
Mettler was born on October 26, 1909 in Weehawken, New Jersey. Her father, William Charles Asper, was a lawyer
Mettler was born on October 26, 1909 in Weehawken, New Jersey. Her father, William Charles Asper, was a lawyer
She studied further at Cornell University where she received her Doctor of Philosophy in 1938.
She was one of the first full-time, and the first female, professors of the history of medicine in the United States. She learned Latin at the Convent of Saint Elizabeth, where she received her Bachelor of Arts in 1931. In 1939, she was named assistant professor of medical history at the University of Georgia School of Medicine.
In 1941, they moved to New York, where she held a position as an associate in neurology, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.
She noted that medical history is typically taught either by delivering chronological lectures or by focusing on a specific topic, and proposed to correlate medical history teaching with the teaching of the medical curriculum. Her major work, The History of Medicine, reflected that approach.
lieutenant was completed after nine years of work just a few days before her death, and published posthumously.