Cobb, Jewel Isadora Plummer (1924-2017), was an African American biologist known for her research and her work to promote science education. Cobb conducted important studies on skin cells that produce the brown-black pigment melanin. She was interested in learning how these cells work normally and how they become cancerous. Cobb also studied the effects of newly discovered chemotherapies (drug treatments). Her research focused on the effects that cancer therapies have on normal human cells.
Cobb also became known for her work to promote educational opportunities in science for women and minorities. She worked continuously with organizations to help schools develop programs to prepare women and minority students for college and for careers in mathematics and science. In 1993, the National Science Foundation presented her with the Lifetime Achievement Award for her contributions to the advancement of women and minorities in science.
Jewel Isadora Plummer was born on Jan. 17, 1924, in Chicago, where her father, a physician, had a successful medical practice. She became interested in biology at an early age. In 1941, she studied biology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor but transferred to Talladega College in Alabama the next year. She graduated in 1944 and accepted a fellowship to teach and study cell biology at New York University. She earned an M.A. there in 1947 and a Ph.D. in 1950. In 1954, she married Roy Raul Cobb, an insurance salesman.
Jewel Cobb held many teaching and administrative positions including dean of Douglass College at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey from 1976 to 1981. From 1981 until 1990, she served as president of California State University at Fullerton. She died on Jan. 1, 2017.
