Elizabeth Backofen

Elizabeth “Libby” Backofen ’46 (née Elizabeth Wood Warren, 1924–2022): As a Chemistry major and active member of the student body (involved in the Glee Club, the A Capella Choir, the YWCA, and much more), Libby Backofen embodied the liberating spirit that a college education instilled in women of the early twentieth century. 

Backofen believed in the transformative power of STEM-related fields. She called science “the future of civilization.” After graduating from Simmons, she conducted research at MIT from 1946 to 1947, in conjunction with The Manhattan Project. The Manhattan Project began during World War II and constituted a major research and development program across 30 sites throughout the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. This pivotal think tank — essentially a top-secret race to develop atomic bombs before Nazi Germany — culminated in the production of the first nuclear weapons. When Backofen joined The Manhattan Project in the immediate postwar years, researchers conducted weapons testing at Bikini Atoll (part of Operation Crossroads), developed a network of national laboratories, and supported medical radiology research. In 1947, the United States Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) succeeded The Manhattan Project. At MIT, Backofen also conducted research on behalf of the Electrical Engineering Department (1947–1949) and served as a radiochemist for the Physics Department (1949–1960).

In 1950, Libby Backofen married Navy veteran and former MIT Professor Walter Alan Backofen (d. 2006), a specialist in metallurgy and materials science. He later became an antique dealer and founded the Lord Timothy Dexter Press, which published books on New Hampshire and local women’s history. In addition to teaching various high school mathematics and chemistry classes and tutoring high school students, Libby Backofen returned to school to obtain her Master’s in Education (with a concentration in Mathematics) from Salem State University. In 1961, the Backofens acquired and restored an extraordinary eighteenth-century property and farm in Plainfield, New Hampshire. They relocated there permanently in 1976.

A year after her husband’s passing, Libby Backofen auctioned off his antique collection with plans to include the proceeds in a gift to Simmons University. In 2014, she formally notified Simmons of her bequest intentions. Funds she left Simmons in her will have been used to establish the Elizabeth Backofen Endowed Professorship (reserved for a STEM specialist) and the Elizabeth Backofen Endowed Scholarship (which provides scholarships for students majoring in biology, chemistry, physics, or mathematics). These gifts will help generations of aspiring scientists prepare for their life’s work. 

The words that accompany Backofen’s senior photograph in the 1946 Microcosm (the Simmons yearbook) encapsulate her intrepid nature: “Never hurries but usually gets there first . . . deliberate and daring . . . eyes, voice, and confidence.” Her graduating cohort selected her as one of the Super Sallys (i.e., a group of superlative seniors). Backofen’s particular title was Crackerjack Sally, which the senior class bestowed upon the “most versatile” Sally. Indeed, her nimble resourcefulness embodied the hallmark of a Simmons education.  

Photo from the 1946 issue of Microcosm, courtesy of Simmons University Archives.