79, the first woman to receive a Ph.D. from Rensselaer, died on March 26, in Salt Lake City , as the result of an accident.

After the Nazi invasion, she fled her native Belgium in 1942 at the age of 15 and survived WWII in hiding. She finished her undergraduate work at the University of Liège in 1948 and then immigrated to Albany , N.Y. She began her graduate work in chemistry and nuclear science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where she met her husband, William C. Servoss. In 1954, she became the first woman to receive a Ph.D. from RPI. Her dissertation was titled, “Entropy values for methyl borate and some related boron compounds.”

She was a longtime professor of chemistry at Rockhurst University , Kansas City, Mo. , teaching for 33 years until she retired in 1996. Shortly after her retirement, she established a scholarship for young women who seek to master the study of chemistry.

In Kansas City , and subsequently in Salt Lake City , she was involved with the League of Women Voters, environmental issues, and teaching and mentoring in science and mathematics. She is survived by Bill, her husband of 55 years; three children; 10 grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.

Published May 4, 2007