Caroline Ella Heminway Kierstead

Caroline Ella Heminway Kierstead was born in Corning, New York to parents Herbert A. and Ella May (Daley) Heminway, on July 12, 1904.[1] Her father was an attorney, as was her sister Marion L. Heminway.[2]

Kierstead attended many institutions throughout her life. In 1925, she graduated from Mount Holyoke College[3]with a major in Philosophy and Psychology, and a minor in Geology. She then took her master's degree at Cornell University, and graduated in 1928. From there, she went on to earn a PhD in 1941 at Indiana University. Aside from her major degrees, she also studied at the University of Colorado, Syracuse University, and the University of Wyoming.[1][4]

In 1928, Kierstead joined the faculty of Smith College in Massachusetts,[4] where she spent most of her teaching career, ascending from instructor to full professor at 1964. She also served as a dean for the class of 1944. Furthermore, she was elected as chair of the geology department at the college in 1946, and served until 1952. Kierstead retired from her post at Smith College in 1969.[1][5]

In 1943, during World War II, Kierstead took a leave of absence from her job, and, bringing along two Smith College graduates, took a job at the Shell Oil Company, where she would work as a paleontologist until 1945.[1] She studied foraminifera in Antarctic core samples during a sabbatical in 1947.[6]

Heminway married electrical engineer Friend Hans Kierstead in 1947.[7] She died in 1985, aged 80 years. There is a collection of her papers at Smith College Libraries.[8]