Martha Sommerfeld Hearron (April 4, 1943 – November 29, 2014) was an American biostatistician who worked for over 30 years at Upjohn, becoming the first professional woman and the first female manager there.^[1]

Martha L. Sommerfeld was born in Highland Park, Illinois.^[1] She was part of the entering class of 1964 at the Woman's College of the University of North Carolina (now the University of North Carolina at Greensboro)^[2][3] but graduated in 1964, with a bachelor's degree in chemistry, from the University of Michigan.^[4] She completed her education with a master's degree in public health in 1966, specializing in biostatistics, at the University of Michigan.^[5] She married Arthur E. Hearron Jr.,^[1][6] and joined Upjohn, where she would work for another 32 years.^[1] She helped establish the Pharmaceutical Subsection of the American Statistical Association in 1968 (now the Biopharmaceutical Section), and was its chair in 1976.^[7]

In 1988, Hearron was elected as a Fellow of the American Statistical Association.^[8]

Hearron held a lifelong interest in the fine and performing arts,^[6] and sang soprano in the annual production of Handel's Messiah as part of the University Choral Union at the University of Michigan while she was a student there.^[9] As a parting gift from her estate, she funded an endowed chair in fine arts at Western Michigan University, in the names of her and her husband.^[6]

References