Ruth F. Allen

Ruth Florence Allen (1879-1963) was an American plant pathologist. She helped the understanding of cytology of rust fungi, which are a large cause of cereal disease. These diseases can have a bad effect on coffee, apple and pine trees.
Allen got a PhD from the University of Wisconsin in 1909, becoming the first woman to get a PhD in the Department of Botany. She worked at the University of Wisconsin, Michigan State College, Wellesley College and the United States Department of Agriculture.
The American Phytopathological Society formed the Ruth Allen Award in 1965 to respect "individuals who have made an outstanding, innovative research contribution that has changed, or has the potential to change, the direction of research in any field of plant pathology."