Cornelia Clapp

Who was Cornelia Clapp?

Cornelia Maria Clapp was an American zoologist and academic specializing in marine biology. She was born in Montague, MA, the first daughter and oldest child of two teachers, and was rated as one of the top zoologists in the United States in her lifetime.

Clapp attended Syracuse University and the University of Chicago, earning both the first and second Ph.B. degrees awarded to women in the United States, in 1888 and 1896, respectively. Mount Holyoke’s Cornelia Clapp Laboratory, built in 1924 to house the school’s biology classes, was named in her honor.