Chief Scientists
Elizabeth “Betty” Bunce was one of the first female oceanographers and the first woman to serve as chief scientist aboard a WHOI research vessel. Her colleagues remember her as kind and loyal as well as forthright and tough—and for using a punching bag on research cruises. A geophysicist interested in tectonics and seismic studies, Bunce was also the first woman to serve as Chair of a department at WHOI. She received the 1995 Women Pioneers in Oceanography Award, and was honored posthomously by having a portion of the Puerto Rico Trench named after her.(Photo courtesy of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Archives)