Virginia Apgar (1909–1974)

Virginia Apgar was born in Westfield, New Jersey. Her parents were Helen May (Clarke) and Charles Emory Apgar, a business executive and amateur astronomer and amateur radio buff. Having seen serious illness in both her brothers, she wanted to become a doctor from a young age. In 1929, she graduated from Mount Holyoke College, where she studied zoology, physiology, and chemistry. She received a medical degree at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons (P&S) in 1933, and completed a residency in surgery there. Dr. Apgar was discouraged from her intended career as a surgeon, and urged instead to join the relatively new field of anesthesiology. She trained at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and then at Bellevue Hospital in New York. She received a certification as an anesthesiologist in 1937, and returned to P&S as director of the newly formed Division of Anesthesia. She became the first female physician at P&S to attain the rank of full professor. She also became an internationally-renowned medical researcher and specialist in obstetrical anesthesiology, best remembered today as the inventor of the APGAR Score, a way to quickly assess the health of a newborn baby immediately after birth and determine if intervention is needed. The score is based on a group of tests given at one minute and five minutes after birth, measuring a baby's Appearance (skin color), Pulse (heart rate), Grimace response (reflexes), Activity (muscle tone), and Respiration (breathing rate and effort). The APGAR Score, with the acronym adopted in her honor, soon came into use throughout the USA and worldwide. In 1959, Dr. Apgar left Columbia and completed a master's degree in public health at Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health. She joined the National Foundation-March of Dimes as head of the division of congenital malformations. She was promoted to director of basic research, and later became senior vice president for medical affairs in 1973–1974. At the March of Dimes, she co-wrote the book Is My Baby All Right? (1972) with Joan Beck. Dr. Apgar was also a keen musician who played and built violins, and often playing in amateur chamber quartets.