Janet Wilder Dakin

Who was Janet Wilder Dakin?

Janet Wilder Dakin, was a philanthropist, zoologist and a younger sister of author Thornton Wilder and poet Charlotte Wilder.

She was born in Berkeley, California. She received her B.A in zoology, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa in 1933, and her M.A. in biology in 1935, both from Mount Holyoke College. She received her Ph.D. in zoology from the University of Chicago in 1939. She taught zoology at Mount Holyoke until she married Winthrop S. Dakin in 1941.

She also lived in China for a few years because of her father's work, but then left with her brother and sister because of the unstable state of the country.