An ISU pioneer will be honored for her determination and opening the door for women in nontraditional careers.

Margaret Sloss was the first female to graduate from Iowa State with a degree in veterinary medicine.

Sloss will be recognized during the Iowa Women’s Hall of Fame

induction ceremony at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the State Historical Building in Des Moines.

The ceremony will take place on the anniversary of the day women were granted the right to vote.

“The ceremony recognizes the accomplishments of outstanding women who have gone – for the most part – unrecognized,” said Charlotte Nelson, executive director of the Iowa Commission on the Status of Women.

“Margaret Sloss was a pioneer for nontraditional careers, but now it’s quite different. She broke down the barrier.”

Sloss grew up on the ISU campus when she moved to Ames at the age of 9.

Her father was the superintendent of buildings, grounds and construction at Iowa State.

Growing up on campus, she was determined to attend the school and study veterinary medicine, but it was during a time when many women didn’t attend college.

If they did, it was in more traditional fields such as home economics and teaching.

She applied to the College of Veterinary Medicine but was denied because she was a woman.

She was accepted after researching the policies of land-grant colleges and found that the Veterinary Medicine College could not deny her admission based on her gender.

“Margaret was very funny and quick-witted – almost sassy,” said Penny Rice, director of the Margaret Sloss Women’s Center.

“She met those prejudices in a way that was educational to men and helpful to women.”

Sloss overcame many stereotypes and led the way for women to get careers, which, at the time, were considered nontraditional roles.

“She proceeded in life like the way it should be,” Rice said. “She didn’t perceive any prejudices and lived her life as if there were none.”

She graduated with her doctorate in veterinary medicine in 1938 and was only one of 12 women in the nation with that degree.

Sloss went on to become a professor at Iowa State in veterinary medicine and taught many of the professors’ wives about lab work so they could become partners in their husbands’ businesses.

Rice said Sloss was quoted saying, “Don’t sit down in the meadow and wait for the cow to be backed up and be milked – go after the cow.”

Rice said she thinks Sloss meant that just pointing out that there is a problem is not sufficient.

“If you point out the problem, you have to be part of the solution,” Rice said.

Sloss died in 1979, and, two years later, the Women’s Center was dedicated in her name. Sloss is being honored along with three other women whose accomplishments in nontraditional fields are being recognized, who are listed below.

Jeannette Eyerly, of Des Moines, was a writer and mental-health advocate.

Christine Grant, of Iowa City, was an advocate to eliminate prejudice against gender in education and sports.

Dorothy Paul, of Iowa City, was a member of the Iowa division for the United Nations.

Other resources:

Margaret Sloss Women’s Center