in Zoology (Phi Beta Kappa) and Ph.D in Genetics from the University of Texas, where she studied with J. T. Patterson and H. J. Muller.
[1] Upon earning her doctorate, Pipkin taught anatomy and physiology at Texas State College for Women.
[1] Pipkin studied Drosophila melanogaster triploids and chromosome balance, population genetics, species introgression, and feeding habits.
A Rockefeller Foundation grant supported her work on seasonal fluctuations of Lebanese species of Drosophila.
His career dictated the family's location, and Pipkin cobbled together research appointments to continue her work.