Mildred Cohn (July 12, 1913 – October 12, 2009)[1][2] was an American biochemist who furthered understanding of biochemical processes through her study of chemical reactions within animal cells.

When Mildred was 13, her father moved the family to a Yiddish-speaking cooperative, Heim Gesellschaft, which strongly emphasized education, the arts, social justice, and the preservation of Yiddish culture.

[6] She went on to attend Hunter College, which was both free and open to all qualified women, irrespective of race, religion or ethnic background.

There Cohn conducted post-doctoral studies on sulfur-amino acid metabolism using radioactive sulfur isotopes.

Cohn was able to obtain a research position with Carl and Gerty Cori in their biochemistry laboratory in the university's school of medicine.

[12] When asked in later life about her most exciting moments in science, Cohn replied: "In 1958, using nuclear magnetic resonance, I saw the first three peaks of ATP.

[2][11] In 1964, she became the first woman to receive the American Heart Association's Lifetime Career Award, providing support until she reached age sixty-five.

[19] She was awarded the Franklin Institute's Elliott Cresson Medal in 1975, for her work on nuclear magnetic resonance analysis of enzymatic complexes.

[21] She was presented with the National Medal of Science by President Ronald Reagan in 1983 for 'pioneering the use of stable isotopic tracers and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy in the study of the mechanisms of enzymatic catalysis'.

[7] Mildren Cohn is quoted in Elga Wasserman's book, The Door in the Dream: Conversations With Eminent Women in Science, as saying “My greatest piece of luck was marrying Henry Primakoff, an excellent scientist who treated me as an intellectual equal and always assumed that I should pursue a scientific career and behaved accordingly.”[1][7]