Rachel Fuller Brown (November 23, 1898 – January 14, 1980) was an American chemist best known for her long-distance collaboration with microbiologist Elizabeth Lee Hazen in developing the first useful antifungal antibiotic, nystatin, while doing research for the Division of Laboratories and Research of the New York State Department of Health.

[1] Nystatin, still produced today under various trade names, not only cures a variety of potentially devastating fungal infections, but has also been used to combat Dutch Elm disease in trees and to restore artwork damaged by water and mold.

After taking some courses at Harvard, Brown came back to the University of Chicago for more graduate work.

In 1948, Brown began a project with Elizabeth Lee Hazen, who was researching fungus and bacteria.

Nystatin was also effective in stopping growth of fungi on works of art in Italy that were damaged by flooding.

In 1950, Brown and Hazen showed their work at the National Academy of Sciences, and in 1954 the drug was made for human use.

[2] The two continued to work closely together in making additional minor contributions to the field of bacteriology until their retirement.

On Brown’s retirement in 1968, she received the Distinguished Service Award of the New York Department of Health.

[2] Brown and Hazen were the first women ever to receive, in 1975, the American Institute of Chemists’ Chemical Pioneer Award.

Brown continued her active community life in retirement, becoming the first female vestry, or administrative member, of her Episcopalian church.

By her death, Brown had not only paid back Henriette Dexter, the wealthy woman who made it possible for her to attend college, but possibly more important, the money she earned from royalties allowed her to create new funds for scientific research and scholarships to provide other scientists with the same opportunities.

In a statement published in the Chemist the month of her death, Brown said she hoped for a future of “equal opportunities and accomplishments for all scientists regardless of sex.”[2]