Maryanna Pearson Henkart 58
July 2022, In Alexandria, Virginia.
When she was growing up in East Portland, Maryanna wanted to be an actress. But the Rev. O. W. Pearson, her father, convinced her she should be a scientist. She started at Reed as a biology major, living at home until her senior year, when she moved into Anna Mann. Maryanna performed in musicals at Reed and played the wife in the stage production of Death of a Salesman . She wrote her thesis, “Some Preliminary Studies on the Purification of a Tartrate Dehydrating Enzyme in Pea Seeds,” advised by Prof. Helen Stafford [biology 1954–87]. While at Reed, she met and married Arthur Warmoth ’59 . They later divorced.
Maryanna earned a PhD in biology from Harvard University and had a two-year fellowship at Scripps Institute of Oceanography. She took a job as a senior investigator at the National Institutes of Health and then joined the National Science Foundation in Arlington, Virginia, where she became the director of the division of molecular and cellular biosciences. She married Pierre Henkart in 1967; they were divorced in 1988.
Appeared in Reed magazine: December 2022
Please enable JavaScript to view the
From the Archives: The Lives they Led
The Colorful “Citizen-Mayor” Invigorated Portland
Novelist Plots a Life of Adventures
Defender of the Citadel
The President Who Led Reed through Crisis of the ’70s
Historian of the Big Questions
Chemist Probed the Architecture of the Infinitesimal
A Lady of Letters
Fear and Freedom in the Land of AIDS
Jurist Found Freedom in State Constitutions
Physicist Redefined Photography as Abstract Art Form.
Saw Land as a Resource, Not a Commodity
A Force Behind Advertising and Asian Art
Blacklisted During McCarthy Era, Photojournalist Covered Turbulent ’60s
Chow Bella
Innovative Dancer Defied Gravity
Architect of the Clean Air Act
Minimalist on Maximum Overdrive
Influential Psychologist Overturned Assumptions 制服巨乳 Men and Women
Hell on Wheels
Prosecuted the Klan in Landmark Case
The Butterfly Effect
Physicist, Educator, Founder of Pi Day
The Fish Missionary
High Flyer Broke Records—and Barriers
Slain defending teenager from hatred.
Influential Professor, Jazz Musician.
Statistician Who Defied The Odds.
Philosopher of the Air
Taught a Generation How to Look at Art
Authored Elegant Thrillers
Saw Death Camp Twice: As Prisoner and as Liberator
Master of the sucker-punch sentence
AIDS Researcher, Gay-Rights Pioneer
The Architect of Zoloft
Sorted the "good" cholesterol from the bad
Journalist, activist, witness to history
Investigative journalist won Pulitzer prize
Green Pioneer Smashed the Glass Microscope
Cartographer of the Brain
Radical lawyer fought for prison reform—and paid with her life
Literary Scholar, Dedicated Teacher
Visionary Technologist, Prodigal Son.
Mathematical physicist hunted giant prime numbers.
Electrifying economist investigated the economics of air pollution.
The Literary Sorcerer
Zen priest, beat poet
Photojournalist captured flames and the spirit of firefighters
The "Godfather of Old Town" revitalized Portland's inner city
Particle physicist stopped bulldozers from razing Hidden Peak
"Unorthodox" dean, inspiring correspondent
From wartime welder to molecular biologist.
Cardiac pioneer was on the scene of every heart attack in Juneau for 14 years
Michigan congressman led fight for sanctions against South Africa
Poet of Ordinary Mysteries
Leading political scientist survived Nazi prison.
Anthropologist revolutionized field of sociolinguistics
Author, filmmaker, anthropologist
The Henry Ford of higher ed.
Rocket scientist and sailboat designer
California preservationist
Historian of towering stature
Helped Troops Escape Nazis, Captured Vital SS Files.
Beloved dean played key role in the life of Steve Jobs.
Nuclear physicist who influenced space exploration
Pioneer in computer animation
Anthropologist, linguist, ethnobotanist
First Native American student at Reed served as teacher and social worker
“Father of Shaw Island”
Chemist helped develop polio vaccine
Intelligence officer did fieldwork for OSS and CIA
Author, translator, and artist
Inventor Played Key Role in the Electronic Revolution
Influential historian of the Pacific Northwest
Visionary designer colored outside the lines.
Her translation turned Sappho into a modernist icon
Pioneering Environmentalist Fought for Arctic Refuge
Brilliant surgeon, tragic accident
Kinetic Sculptor