Gertrude belle elion was born on jan. 23, 1918, in new york city. she graduated from hunter college in new york city with a degree in biochemistry in 1937. unable to obtain a graduate research position because she was a woman, she took a series of jobs, including lab assistant, chemistry and physics teacher in new york city high schools, and research chemist. during this time she also took classes at new york university, where she earned a master's degree in 1941. because she could not devote herself to full-time studies, elion never received a doctorate.