Maud Slye (1879-1954) was a pathologist and noted cancer researcher at the University of Chicago. A descendant of John Alden of the Plymouth Colony, Slye had attended the University of Chicago in 1896 with little money but, as her New York Times obituary wrote, "with the urge to become a scientist." She eventually earned a degree from Brown University, taught school for a while, and then returned to Chicago for graduate work, beginning a research and teaching career at the university that ended with her retirement in 1944. Well-known for arguing in 1926 that "heredity of cancer and non-cancer uniformly follows a perfect Mendelian pattern" ("Cancer Hereditary, Chicago Woman Shows," Science News-Letter, March 20, 1926), Slye was a tireless researcher and a prolific poet. Two volumes of her verses appeared during the 1930s, including the 450-page Songs and Solaces