Joseph Marie Armer Explained

Religion:Catholic
Joseph Marie Armer
Honorific Prefix:Sister
Post-Nominals:C. C. V. I.
Birth Name:Annie Augusta Armer
Birth Date:24 May 1907
Death Place:San Antonio, Texas

Joseph Marie Armer (1907–2000) was an American Roman Catholic sister and botanist. In 1956 she established the Alamo Regional Academy of Science and Engineering, also known as the Alamo Regional Science Fair.[1] She was the Piper Professor of Texas for Teaching Excellence in 1964.[2] A natural science chair at the University of the Incarnate Word is named for her.[3]

Youth and entry into religious life

She was born Annie Augusta Armer in 1907 to Augusta Eulalia Barnitz Armer and Leon Armer.[4] She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a PhD in biology in 1929. UT Austin was one of the few universities in the United States to admit women at that time, and it did so from its inception in 1883.[5] Although raised Baptist, she converted to Roman Catholicism in 1929 after she began working at the University of the Incarnate Word, and she joined the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word. In 1943 she won a full tuition grant to the Catholic University of America for further studies.[6] Her vision deteriorated throughout her adult life until she was considered legally blind, but she continued her teaching and research.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: About Us – ARASE . 2024-11-24 . en-US.
  2. Web site: Sr. Joseph Marie Armer Sisters' Narratives . 2024-11-24 . www.uiw.edu.
  3. Book: Watkins, Patricia A. . Lou: From Brooklyn to Broadway, the University of the Incarnate Word's 25 years with Dr. Louis J. Agnese, Jr. . Maverick Publishing . 2011 . 978-1-893271-60-9 . San Antonio, Texas . 55.
  4. "United States Census, 1920," FamilySearch, entry for Leon Armer and Augusta Armer, 1920.
  5. Web site: Howard . Kylee . β€˜She will never be forgotten:’ a look into three buildings, three stories of UT Women . 2024-11-24 . The Daily Texan.
  6. News: 16 May 1943 . Catholic University Announces Awards of 21 Grants for Study. 13 Women Are Included Among Recipients of Scholastic Honors. . The Sunday Star . Washington, DC.