In 1948, Edith Ricks Lindly (1909-1972) became the first woman to earn a doctorate at Oklahoma A&M College, now Oklahoma State University.

A native of Yale, Lindly taught in the public schools as a health educator, after receiving a bachelor’s degree from OAMC in 1931. She also began dedicating her summers to graduate study and received her first master’s degree from OAMC in 1939. She earned a second master’s degree from the University of Michigan a few years later.

While working as a public health administrator at Fresno State College, Lindly returned each summer to Stillwater to complete her requirements for a doctorate in education.

She was a member of Alpha Delta Pi and an annual scholarship is awarded by the sorority’s OSU chapter in her name.