Helena E. Riggs (December 18, 1899 – October 7, 1968) was an American neuropathologist at Philadelphia General Hospital and the University of Pennsylvania.
[2][3] In 1948, she was one of the first two neuropathologists to be certified by the American Board of Pathology, and in 1950 she served as the first woman President of the Philadelphia Neurological Society.
[6] She was educated privately and attended Bryn Mawr College for two years (1917–1919) before transferring to the University of Pennsylvania.
[2] She served as an internship at the Philadelphia General Hospital, which rarely accepted women at that time.
[1] Riggs was an early member of the Neuropathology Club,[5] founded in 1925, which became the American Association of Neuropathologists in 1930.
[1][2][16][17] The American Association of Neuropathologists authorized the installation of a plaque in the Philadelphia General Hospital.
[18] Riggs cultivated extensive gardens at her home, was a gourmet cook, and accomplished as a seamstress, knitter and needle-worker.