Lucy Hobbs Taylor, American dentist and educator (d. 1910)
Lucy Hobbs Taylor (March 14, 1833 – October 3, 1910) was an American school teacher and a dentist, known for being the first woman to graduate from dental school (Ohio College of Dental Surgery in 1866).She was originally denied admittance to the Eclectic Medical College in Cincinnati, Ohio due to her gender. Due to this, a professor in the college agreed to tutor her and encouraged her to practice dentistry. Once again, she applied to a dentistry school, this time Ohio College of Dentistry. Unfortunately, she was once again refused admittance due to her gender. From there, a college graduate agreed to tutor her, allowing her to continue her studies towards dentistry. In 1861, she decided to open her own practice instead of attempting to get into a college once again. After a year, she moved to Iowa and opened a dentistry practice. This allowed her to be accepted as a dentist without the diploma and become part of the Iowa State Dental Society. Being part of this society meant that she was also serving as the group's delegate to the American Dental Associate Convention, only three years after moving to Iowa. With great coincidence, that same year (1865) the Ohio College of Dentistry decided to waive the policy prohibiting women being admitted to the institution. Instantly, Taylor enrolled as a senior student thanks to her dentistry experience she had accumulated over the years. She graduated in 1866, becoming the first woman in the world to graduate from a dental college, and to receive a doctorate in dentistry.