Louise Stanley

Louise Ellen Stanley was an American chemist and home economist who served as the first head of the United States Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Home Economics, a post she held from 1923 to 1943. Under her leadership the bureau researched nutrition, food safety and household economics, and Stanley used the position to hire other women scientists and expand the bureau's research programs; she took part in a 1930 White House Conference on Child Health and Protection convened by President Herbert Hoover, and she championed product labeling and industrial standards for fabrics, foods and other household goods. By 1938 she was recognized as the highest ranking woman scientist in the federal government. After leaving the bureau's directorship in 1943 she continued government service through 1950, working on nutrition and diet studies in Latin America.