Leadership Spotlight: America’s First Female Dentist

Lucy Beaman Hobbs, the first woman to receive a Doctor of Dentistry degree, was quite the trailblazer. Her difficult journey of success inspired more women to get their degree. When Hobbs first applied to the Eclectic Medical School in Cincinnati she was rejected, and the college suggested she apply to dental school instead. She was rejected from Ohio’s program as well, but this time she remained determined to achieve her goal. She was offered the opportunity to train alongside other professional dentists–including Ohio College of Dental Surgery’s dean of students, Jonathan Taft. Eventually, she did what many people chose to do at the time and opened up her own practice where she performed dental work even without a license or official degree (not something we’d recommend to anyone nowadays, but not an uncommon practice at the time).

Her practice in Iowa was very profitable and highly regarded. So much so in fact, that the Iowa State Dental Society admitted her as a member. A decision that soon later inspired Ohio College to change their minds. They admitted Hobbs, and in recognition of the work she had already shown herself well capable of doing, they expedited her coursework. She graduated with her Doctorate of Dental surgery after only one year. Hobbs later married, taught her husband dentistry, and they opened their own practice in Kansas. Hobbs worked as a dentist, and a women’s rights advocate until she died in 1910. Uncompromising, intelligent, and fearless Hobbs remains one of the most inspiring dentists in history!