Helen Murray Free
Helen Free receiving the National Medal of Technology and Innovation from President Obama, 2010
Born	Helen Murray (1923-02-20)February 20, 1923 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	May 1, 2021(2021-05-01) (aged 98) Elkhart, Indiana, U.S.
Alma mater	College of Wooster (BS) Central Michigan University (MA)
Known for	Self-testing systems for diabetes
Awards	Garvan–Olin Medal (1980) Kilby Award (1996) National Inventors Hall of Fame (2000) National Medal of Technology and Innovation (2009)
Scientific career
Fields	Chemistry

Helen Murray Free (February 20, 1923 – May 1, 2021) was an American chemist and educator. She is most known for her work on in vitro self-testing systems for diabetes and other diseases.

Early life and education

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Free was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on February 20, 1923. Her father, James S. Murray, worked as a coal company salesman; her mother, Daisy Piper Murray, died during an influenza epidemic when Free was six.^[1]^[2]

Free received her early education from the public schools in Youngstown, Ohio, and graduated in 1941 as the valedictorian of Poland Seminary High School. While attending a summer camp at the College of Wooster, she set her heart on attending Wooster. Greatly influenced by her high school English teacher, she originally intended to major in English and Latin in hopes of becoming a teacher; however, these plans soon changed. In December 1941 when Pearl Harbor was bombed, many young men either enlisted or were drafted into the army. As a result of the vacancy within "male-dominated disciplines",^[3] women were encouraged to pursue careers in science. Consequently, Free switched her major to chemistry in which she obtained a Bachelor of Science in 1944.^[2] She described her switch to chemistry as the “most terrific thing” that ever happened to her.^[1]

Career

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Upon graduating from Wooster, Free immediately began working as a quality control chemist for Miles Laboratories (known as the creators of Alka-Seltzer), which involved testing the quality of ingredients in the company's line of vitamins.^[3] When Alfred Free had a position open in his biochemistry research group, she interviewed and filled the position.^[4] Little did she know that they would become lifelong research partners.^[3] They would marry two years later in 1947.^[3]

Originally they researched different antibiotics before they moved on to dry reagent systems. The first thing Alfred and his team were tasked with was further refining Clinitest to make it more sensitive.^[3] Clinitest was a tablet that measured glucose levels in the urine of diabetic patients when a diluted solution of urine was subject to a tablet. A resulting color change would be able to determine the corresponding glucose levels of the patient. The team also developed the Acetest, another tablet test for diabetes.^[4]^[5] Continuing with this trend of enabling clinical tests to be carried out in tablet form, the team created Ictotest, which tested for hepatitis A. This test was able to chemically detect the presence of bilirubin in urine, which was indicative of carrying the disease.^[6]

The Frees introduced Clinistix (the famous “dip-and-read” test) in 1956. It was the first dip-and-read diagnostic test strip for monitoring glucose in urine.^[5] They then worked to develop other strips that could test for key indicators of diseases, such as proteins and ketones.^[7] Eventually, they were able to create Multistix, which enabled a urine analysis that combined multiple tests into one strip.^[6] They did this by making an impermeable barrier between the multiple reagents on the strip.^[7] Several other testing strips were developed and added to the market, including Uristix, Ketostix, Dextrostix, Labstix, and the still-current product, Multistix.^[4]^[1]

Free moved into the Growth and Development Department in 1969, and she eventually became the director of Specialty Test Systems seven years later. She was Director of Marketing Services for the Research Products Division when Bayer Diagnostics acquired Miles in 1978.^[8]^[9]

Free also earned a Master of Arts in management (health care administration) from Central Michigan University (1978), and served as an adjunct professor of management at Indiana University South Bend.^[10]

By 1975, Free had earned seven patents for her improvements in medical and clinical urinalysis testing. In that year, she and her husband co-authored their second book, Urinalysis in Laboratory Practice, which is still a standard work in the field.^[10] She retired in 1982, but continued to work as a consultant for Bayer Diagnostics in Elkhart, Indiana.^[2]

Later years

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After her retirement, Free became an active promoter of science education. She devoted special attention to educating both female and underprivileged students, through programs such as "Kids & Chemistry" and "Expanding Your Horizons."^[5]

Personal life

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In 1947 she married Alfred Free, a fellow researcher in urinalysis. Together, they had six children: Eric, Kurt, Jake, Bonnie, Nina, and Penny. Also, she helped raise three stepchildren: Charles, Jane and Barb.^[2]

Free died on May 1, 2021, at a hospice facility in Elkhart at 98 from complications of a stroke.^[2]

Awards and honors

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In 1980, Free received the Garvan–Olin Medal, given to women for distinguished service in the field of chemistry.^[1] In 1996, she received the Kilby Award for lifetime achievement.^[11]

Free served as president of the American Association for Clinical Chemistry in 1990. Sixteen years later, she received its prestigious award for Outstanding Contributions to Clinical Chemistry.^[12]

Free was elected president of the American Chemical Society in 1993.^[12] The ACS named an award in her honor, the Helen M. Free Award for Public Outreach.^[12]^[13]^[14]

Free was inducted into the National Inventor's Hall of Fame in 2000.^[15] She was awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation a decade later by Barack Obama.^[16]^[17]^[18]

The work of Helen and Al Free in developing diagnostic test strips was designated a National Historic Chemical Landmark by the American Chemical Society on May 1, 2010, at the ETHOS Science Center in Elkhart, Indiana.^[19] She was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame one year later.^[20]

Patents

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Free et al., U.S. Patent 3,087,794, " CHEMICAL TEST FOR DIFFERENTIATING LEUCOCYTES FROM ERYTHROCYTES"
Free, U.S. Patent 2,912,309, “INDICATOR FOR DETECTING GLUCOSE”

References

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^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Bohning, James J. (December 14, 1998). Helen Murray Free, Transcript of an Interview Conducted by James J. Bohning at Elkhart, Indiana on 14 December, 1998 (PDF). Philadelphia, PA: Chemical Heritage Foundation.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Gellene, Denise (May 3, 2021). "Helen Murray Free Dies at 98; Chemist Developed Diabetes Test". The New York Times. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Helen M. Free". American Chemical Society. Retrieved October 25, 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Helen M. Free and Alfred Free". Science History Institute. Retrieved February 19, 2018.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Helen Murray Free". National Women's Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on December 16, 2014. Retrieved December 15, 2014.
^ ^a ^b "Helen M. Free and Alfred Free". Science History Institute. Retrieved October 25, 2024.
^ ^a ^b "Al and Helen Free and the Development of Diagnostic Test Strips". American Chemical Society. Retrieved October 25, 2024.
^ "Helen M. Free". Uakron.edu. July 21, 2006. Archived from the original on October 21, 2010. Retrieved November 17, 2010.
^ "JCE Online: Biographical Snapshots: Snapshot". Jchemed.chem.wisc.edu. Retrieved May 9, 2009.
^ ^a ^b "Inventor of the Week: Archive". Web.mit.edu. Archived from the original on March 18, 2003. Retrieved May 9, 2009.
^ "The Kilby International Awards". The Kilby International Awards Foundation. Retrieved December 15, 2014.
^ ^a ^b ^c Wayne, Tiffany K. (2011). American women of science since 1900. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO. pp. 407–408. ISBN 978-1598841589.
^ "Helen M. Free Award for Public Outreach". ACS Chemistry for Life. American Chemical Society. Retrieved December 15, 2014.
^ "Award website".
^ Oakes, Elizabeth H. (2007). Encyclopedia of world scientists (Rev. ed.). New York: Facts on File. pp. 250–251. ISBN 9781438118826. Retrieved December 15, 2014.
^ Daniel, Debra (November 16, 2010). "Obama to present medal to Elkhart woman". WSBT-TV. Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved November 17, 2010.
^ Obama, Barack (November 17, 2010). "Remarks by the President in Presenting National Medals of Science and National Medals of Technology and Innovation". whitehouse.gov. Retrieved November 17, 2010 – via National Archives.
^ Paiva, Rini (2011). "News & Views: Helen Free Receives National Honor". Clinical Chemistry. 57 (Special Issue): 647–648. doi:10.1373/clinchem.2011.162859.
^ "Al and Helen Free and the Development of Diagnostic Test Strips". National Historic Chemical Landmarks. American Chemical Society. May 1, 2010. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
^ National Women's Hall of Fame, Helen Murray Free

Further reading

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Shearer, Benjamin; Shearer, Barbara (1997). Notable Women in the Physical Sciences: A Biographical Dictionary. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. ISBN 9780313293030.
Etingoff, Kim (2014). Women in Chemistry. Broomall, PA: Mason Crest. ISBN 9781422288948. OCLC 899512190.

External links

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Center for Oral History. "Helen Murray Free". Science History Institute.
Bohning, James J. (December 14, 1998). "Helen Murray Free, Transcript of an Interview Conducted by James J. Bohning at Elkhart, Indiana on 14 December, 1998" (PDF). Philadelphia, PA: Chemical Heritage Foundation.

Inductees to the National Women's Hall of Fame

1970–1979

1973	Jane Addams Marian Anderson Susan B. Anthony Clara Barton Mary McLeod Bethune Elizabeth Blackwell Pearl S. Buck Rachel Carson Mary Cassatt Emily Dickinson Amelia Earhart Alice Hamilton Helen Hayes Helen Keller Eleanor Roosevelt Florence Sabin Margaret Chase Smith Elizabeth Cady Stanton Helen Brooke Taussig Harriet Tubman
1976	Abigail Adams Margaret Mead Mildred "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias
1979	Dorothea Dix Juliette Gordon Low Alice Paul Elizabeth Bayley Seton

1980–1989

1981	Margaret Sanger Sojourner Truth
1982	Carrie Chapman Catt Frances Perkins
1983	Belva Lockwood Lucretia Mott
1984	Mary "Mother" Harris Jones Bessie Smith
1986	Barbara McClintock Lucy Stone Harriet Beecher Stowe
1988	Gwendolyn Brooks Willa Cather Sally Ride Mary Risteau Ida B. Wells-Barnett

1990–1999

1990	Margaret Bourke-White Barbara Jordan Billie Jean King Florence B. Seibert
1991	Gertrude Belle Elion
1993	Ethel Percy Andrus Antoinette Blackwell Emily Blackwell Shirley Chisholm Jacqueline Cochran Ruth Colvin Marian Wright Edelman Alice Evans Betty Friedan Ella Grasso Martha Wright Griffiths Fannie Lou Hamer Dorothy Height Dolores Huerta Mary Putnam Jacobi Mae Jemison Mary Lyon Mary Mahoney Wilma Mankiller Constance Baker Motley Georgia O'Keeffe Annie Oakley Rosa Parks Esther Peterson Jeannette Rankin Ellen Swallow Richards Elaine Roulet Katherine Siva Saubel Gloria Steinem Helen Stephens Lillian Wald Madam C. J. Walker Faye Wattleton Rosalyn S. Yalow Gloria Yerkovich
1994	Bella Abzug Ella Baker Myra Bradwell Annie Jump Cannon Jane Cunningham Croly Catherine East Geraldine Ferraro Charlotte Perkins Gilman Grace Hopper Helen LaKelly Hunt Zora Neale Hurston Anne Hutchinson Frances Wisebart Jacobs Susette La Flesche Louise McManus Maria Mitchell Antonia Novello Linda Richards Wilma Rudolph Betty Bone Schiess Muriel Siebert Nettie Stevens Oprah Winfrey Sarah Winnemucca Fanny Wright
1995	Virginia Apgar Ann Bancroft Amelia Bloomer Mary Breckinridge Eileen Collins Elizabeth Hanford Dole Anne Dallas Dudley Mary Baker Eddy Ella Fitzgerald Margaret Fuller Matilda Joslyn Gage Lillian Moller Gilbreth Nannerl O. Keohane Maggie Kuhn Sandra Day O'Connor Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin Pat Schroeder Hannah Greenebaum Solomon
1996	Louisa May Alcott Charlotte Anne Bunch Frances Xavier Cabrini Mary A. Hallaren Oveta Culp Hobby Wilhelmina Cole Holladay Anne Morrow Lindbergh Maria Goeppert Mayer Ernestine Louise Potowski Rose Maria Tallchief Edith Wharton
1998	Madeleine Albright Maya Angelou Nellie Bly Lydia Moss Bradley Mary Steichen Calderone Mary Ann Shadd Cary Joan Ganz Cooney Gerty Cori Sarah Grimké Julia Ward Howe Shirley Ann Jackson Shannon Lucid Katharine Dexter McCormick Rozanne L. Ridgway Edith Nourse Rogers Felice Schwartz Eunice Kennedy Shriver Beverly Sills Florence Wald Angelina Grimké Weld Chien-Shiung Wu

2000–2009

2000	Faye Glenn Abdellah Emma Smith DeVoe Marjory Stoneman Douglas Mary Dyer Sylvia A. Earle Crystal Eastman Jeanne Holm Leontine T. Kelly Frances Oldham Kelsey Kate Mullany Janet Reno Anna Howard Shaw Sophia Smith Ida Tarbell Wilma L. Vaught Mary Edwards Walker Annie Dodge Wauneka Eudora Welty Frances E. Willard
2001	Dorothy H. Andersen Lucille Ball Rosalynn Carter Lydia Maria Child Bessie Coleman Dorothy Day Marian de Forest Althea Gibson Beatrice A. Hicks Barbara Holdridge Harriet Williams Russell Strong Emily Howell Warner Victoria Woodhull
2002	Paulina Kellogg Wright Davis Ruth Bader Ginsburg Katharine Graham Bertha Holt Mary Engle Pennington Mercy Otis Warren
2003	Linda G. Alvarado Donna de Varona Gertrude Ederle Martha Matilda Harper Patricia Roberts Harris Stephanie L. Kwolek Dorothea Lange Mildred Robbins Leet Patsy Takemoto Mink Sacagawea Anne Sullivan Sheila E. Widnall
2005	Florence E. Allen Ruth Fulton Benedict Betty Bumpers Hillary Clinton Rita Rossi Colwell Mother Marianne Cope Maya Y. Lin Patricia A. Locke Blanche Stuart Scott Mary Burnett Talbert
2007	Eleanor K. Baum Julia Child Martha Coffin Pelham Wright Swanee Hunt Winona LaDuke Elisabeth Kübler-Ross Judith L. Pipher Catherine Filene Shouse Henrietta Szold
2009	Louise Bourgeois Mildred Cohn Karen DeCrow Susan Kelly-Dreiss Allie B. Latimer Emma Lazarus Ruth Patrick Rebecca Talbot Perkins Susan Solomon Kate Stoneman

2010–2019

2011	St. Katharine Drexel Dorothy Harrison Eustis Loretta C. Ford Abby Kelley Foster Helen Murray Free Billie Holiday Coretta Scott King Lilly Ledbetter Barbara A. Mikulski Donna E. Shalala Kathrine Switzer
2013	Betty Ford Ina May Gaskin Julie Krone Kate Millett Nancy Pelosi Mary Joseph Rogers Bernice Sandler Anna Schwartz Emma Willard
2015	Tenley Albright Nancy Brinker Martha Graham Marcia Greenberger Barbara Iglewski Jean Kilbourne Carlotta Walls LaNier Philippa Marrack Mary Harriman Rumsey Eleanor Smeal
2017	Matilda Cuomo Temple Grandin Lorraine Hansberry Victoria Jackson Sherry Lansing Clare Boothe Luce Aimee Mullins Carol Mutter Janet Rowley Alice Waters
2019	Gloria Allred Angela Davis Sarah Deer Jane Fonda Nicole Malachowski Rose O'Neill Louise Slaughter Sonia Sotomayor Laurie Spiegel Flossie Wong-Staal

2020–2029

2020	Aretha Franklin Barbara Hillary Barbara Rose Johns Henrietta Lacks Toni Morrison Mary Church Terrell
2022	Octavia E. Butler Judy Chicago Rebecca S. Halstead Mia Hamm Joy Harjo Emily Howland Katherine Johnson Indra Nooyi Michelle Obama
2024	Patricia Bath Ruby Bridges Elouise P. Cobell Kimberlé Crenshaw Peggy McIntosh Judith Plaskow Loretta Ross Sandy Stone Anna Wessels Williams Serena Williams