Virginia Kneeland Frantz

Virginia Kneeland Frantz (November 13, 1896 – August 23, 1967) was a pathologist and educator credited with a series of discoveries in the study of thyroid, breast and pancreatic tumors.

She was born in New York City, the daughter of Yale and Anna Ilsley Ball Kneeland.

She then pursued medical studies at Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, graduating in 1922.

From 1924 to 1962 she taught surgery at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, becoming a full professor in 1951.

In 1959, she wrote a study on tumors of the pancreas which became the standard text in the field[4] In 1961 she became the first female president of the American Thyroid Association.