On February 22, 1883 . . .
Alice Middleton Boring was born in Philadelphia. Dr. Boring began her scientific endeavors as a cytologist studying under Nettie Stevens and Thomas Hunt Morgan. After co-authoring 36 works with Morgan, Boring taught for eight years in the University of Maine's Zoology department.
In 1918, Boring was offered a 2-year professorship at China's Peking Union Medical College - a position that would change her life. Dr. Boring switched her scientific focus to the study of China's lizards and amphibians. Considered a pioneer in her field, Boring is credited with being the first to expand the knowledge of amphibians and reptiles in the West. One of her students discovered Leptobrachium boringii, commonly called the Mustache Toad, in her name.
Boring continued to work in China despite being interred during WWII. Following the war, she would return to the United States returning only once to China. Dr. Boring ended her career at Smith College in Cambridge, Massachusetts, later passing in 1955.
