Valerie Ann Leeds

Dr. Norma S. Leeds, Professor Emeritus, Trailblazer and Champion for Science

Dr. Valerie Ann Leeds has included a charitable bequest in her will to establish the Norma S. Leeds Memorial Endowed Scholarship in memory of her late mother, Dr. Norma Leeds, who was a professor of chemistry at Kean University for nearly three decades. The Leeds Endowed Scholarship will provide tuition relief for undergraduate students majoring in the natural sciences with a preference for those majoring in chemistry or biochemistry. This scholarship will be awarded to students based on financial need as well as academic excellence.

Dr. Norma S. Leeds, Professor Emeritus of
Chemistry, Kean University

Valerie remembers coming to Kean's campus with her mother in her youth. When asked what inspired Valerie to include the Kean University Foundation in her will, she shared: "My mother was a trailblazer, and an example of what women can do when they set their minds to it. Throughout her career she had a significant impact on hundreds of students - and it is only fitting that her legacy should live on at Kean University. Education was of the utmost importance to her."

There is no doubt that Dr. Leeds was a trailblazer in her field. As a woman in the field of science at a time when most women did not even attend college, Dr. Leeds stood out among her peers and earned several distinctions throughout her lifetime. Namely, Dr. Leeds was the first woman to be awarded a PhD in chemistry from Rutgers University, the first woman hired as a chemistry professor at Kean and was the first woman to serve as chairperson of the Chemistry-Physics Department at Kean University.

Born in New York City in 1920, Dr. Leeds earned her undergraduate degree at Hunter College in biology at the age of sixteen before later pursuing a doctoral degree at Rutgers University. Prior to her career in academe, Dr. Leeds worked at Sloan Kettering and at General Aniline in Linden, New Jersey.

Dr. Leeds also taught chemistry at two other notable universities in New Jersey - namely Caldwell University (Caldwell College for Women at the time) and Fairleigh Dickinson University, prior to her lengthy tenure at Kean.

After twenty-seven years of service to Kean University, Dr. Leeds retired with great distinction in 1991. Upon retirement, the Kean University Board of Trustees bestowed the professor emeritus title on Dr. Leeds, a distinction only awarded to outstanding faculty in their respective fields of study.

Dr. Leeds lived a full life outside of her work. Her personal hobbies and passions included gardening, playing bridge, French, and the culinary arts. She was married to her devoted husband, Morton W. Leeds, who was also a chemist and shared her lifelong belief in education. Morton was born and raised in Brooklyn and attended Polytechnic University where he earned BS, MS, and PhD degrees in chemistry. The couple was married for sixty-six years until Morton passed away in 2011.

Finally, after a life well lived, Dr. Norma Leeds passed away in 2018 at the age of 97. Her legacy will live on at Kean University in perpetuity and the scholarship in her name will have a significant impact on future generations to come.