[1][5] Her doctoral dissertation, supervised by Henry Clapp Sherman, was titled "Influence of Some Organic Compounds upon the Hydrolysis of Starch by Salivary and Pancreatic Amylases.
"[6] Naylor taught public school in her hometown for one year in 1907, before joining the staff at Iowa State University.
Can we wonder at the lack of attention in chemistry class as we begin to discuss the law of multiple proportion or the percentage of iron in certain ores?
Yet we can demand that attention if we approach the subject by an explanation of how our grandmothers used iron pots and kettles, black and unattractive, heavy and hard to handle, while all the time in the clay around there was an abundance of aluminum.
[citation needed] Nuclear chemist Darleane C. Hoffman has credited a freshman-year course taught by Nellie May Naylor with inspiring her pursuit of a scientific career.