Willard Myron Allen

Allen studied medicine at the University of Rochester and supported himself by working as an assistant in his anatomy professor, George W. Corner’s embryology laboratory.

After several years of teaching at Rochester, Allen was appointed professor and chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Washington University's School of Medicine in St. Louis.

He contributed original papers on the histology and physiology of the female reproductive organs, bringing him many national and international awards.

[1] Considerable space has been devoted to progesterone, but little has been written about its discoverer, Willard M. Allen.

The isolation of the hormone from the waxy material obtained by high-vacuum distillation was a laborious and exasperating experience.