Dr. Wyvona Alexander Lane may have started her academic career at the Oklahoma College
for Women, working her way through college by waiting tables, grading papers, and
assisting in laboratories, but her academic, as well as professional resume includes
employment with the National Academy of Sciences, United States Navy through George
Washington University and the U.S. Government at the Pentagon, Washington, D.C. While
at OCW, Dr. Lane was elected to Hypatia, OCW’s unique honors society. Receiving this
award made her realize her future should include academic life doing things she enjoyed.
Dr. Lane continued her education at Oberlin College graduating in 1941 with a master
in chemistry and then from the University of Illinois, in 1946 with a Ph.D. in organic
chemistry. She was employed by Calco, a division of American Cyanamide in New Jersey,
to work in the dye division, specializing in blues and greys. While there, Dr. Lane
made significant improvements in the chemistry of dyes, discovering how to add brightness
to the colors and improving one of the blue dyes and creating a truly neutral grey
dye. She continued to work at Calco until her marriage to Joseph R. Lane in 1949.
The Lanes moved from Massachusetts to Washington D.C. where Dr. Lane was hired by
the National Academy of Sciences to survey sources and uses of scientific literature.
This resulted in two reports published in her name. Dr. Lane has worked organizing
projects at the Pentagon and leading a small group at the George Washington University
in exploring unique explosive compounds for the Navy. She was elected to the OCW Alumni
Hall of Fame in 1981.