Eleanor Heist Slifer was born in Glenside, Pa., in August 1900. She received her B.S. degree from Temple University in 1923, and served mere briefly as a laboratory assistant before transferring to the University of Pennsylvania, where she received me M.S. degree in 1926, and the Ph.D. degree in zoology in 1930. It was there mat she began her association with Dr. Robert L. King and his wife, Mary. It may have been this couple's move to Iowa City in 1929 which prompted Eleanor to come to the University of Iowa for her one-year tenure as a Fellow of the National Research Council, a position which was at that time rare and highly prized. She stayed at Iowa as a research associate for 3 years, and was then named associate through 1937, before being appointed as an assistant professor. Her professorship was obtained in 1957, long after it was richly deserved.