Mary Ellen Jones

Mary Ellen Jones (December 25, 1922 – August 23, 1996) was an American biochemist. She was notable for discovery of carbamoyl phosphate, a chemical substance that is key to the biosynthesis of arginine and urea, and for the biosynthesis of pyrimidine nucleotides. Jones became the first woman to hold a chair at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the first woman to become a department chair at the medical school. She was a member of the National Academy of Sciences. She was also president of the Association of Medical School Departments of Biochemistry, president of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and president of the American Association of University Professors. The New York Times called her a "crucial researcher on DNA" and said that her studies laid the foundation for basic cancer research. She died of cancer on August 23, 1996. Early life Jones was born in La Grange Park, Illinois, on December 12, 1922. Her parents were Elmer and Laura Klein Jones. Education Jones pursued her bachelor's degree in biochemistry at the University of Chicago. While an undergraduate, she began to work part-time for Armour and Company. Upon her graduation in 1944, having paucity of funds to pursue graduate school, she continued to work for Armour, where she collaborated with Paul Munson, the director of the research laboratory. Their research led to Munson and Jones publishing two papers on androsterone and monopalmitin in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.