Phoebe Sudlow
1831-1922. First “lady professor” in the nation when she was hired to teach English at the University of Iowa in 1878. As superintendent of public schools at Davenport (1874-78), she argued that women should be paid equally with men for equal work. Her school board agreed. In 1876, she won election over two widely known UI professors, Amos Currier and Henry Sabin, to become the first woman to head the Iowa State Teachers Association. Although illness forced retirement from UI during 1881, she eventually returned to Davenport and taught an 11-year-old John Bowman, later UI president.