Doris Mable Cochran

Who was Doris Mable Cochran?

Doris Mable Cochran was an American herpetologist and custodian of the American Natural Collection at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. for many years. Born in North Girard, Pennsylvania, she grew up in Washington after her father transferred there for a government job.

While an undergraduate student at George Washington University, she worked for the War Department and became Aide in the Division of Herpetology at the United States National Museum. Although the museum was under the curatorship of Leonhard Hess Stejneger, Cochran was responsible for the administration of the herpetological collections. In 1927 she became Assistant Curator and in 1942, Associate Curator just prior to Stejneger's death. She earned a Ph.D. at the University of Maryland in 1933 with a thesis on blue crab myology. She became the first woman Curator in 1956 until her retirement in 1968 on her 70th birthday.

She studied art at the Corcoran Art School and developed her talents as an artist, becoming a scientific illustrator not only for her own works, but also for those of her colleagues.