Physician, social reformer, professor of industrial medicine, best known for her research on toxic substances in the workplace; first female professor at the Harvard Medical School.

Alice Hamilton was born in New York City , the daughter of Montgomery Hamilton, a wholesale grocer, and Gertrude Pond. She is the sister of well-known, classicist Edith Hamilton. Alice was educated at Miss Porter's School, the Fort Wayne College of Medicine, and the University of Michigan , where she received her medical degree in 1893. Hamilton continued her education at Johns Hopkins University and in Germany where she studied bacteriology and pathology at the universities of Leipzig and Munich.

In 1897, she was appointed a professor of pathology at Northwestern University 's Woman's Medical School and also joined Jane Addams at Hull House to improve the lives of the working poor. While at Hull House, Hamilton began her research into industrial diseases; in 1908 she was named to the Illinois Commission of Occupational Diseases and in 1911 to the United States Bureau of Labor as a special investigator.

During World War I Hamilton accompanied Jane Addams to the International Congress of Women at the Hague and throughout Europe to present their peace proposals. In 1919, she was the first female professor hired by the Harvard Medical School . While at Harvard, Hamilton served two terms on the Health Committee of the League of Nations .

In 1935, she retired from Harvard, moved to Hadlyme, Connecticut and accepted a position as consultant to the United States Division of Labor Standards. From 1944 to 1949 she served as president of the National Consumers' League. Hamilton 's published works include Industrial Poisons in the United States (1925), Industrial Toxicology (1934) and Exploring the Dangerous Trades (1943).