Ava Helen Pauling (born Miller; December 24, 1903 – December 7, 1981) was an American human rights activist and wife of Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling. Throughout her life, she was involved in various social movements including women's rights, racial equality, and international peace. An avid New Dealer, Ava Helen Pauling was heavily interested in American politics and social reforms. She is credited with introducing Linus Pauling to the field of peace studies, for which he received the 1962 Nobel Peace Prize. Most prominent among the various causes she supported was the issue of ending nuclear proliferation. Ava Helen Pauling worked with her husband, advocating a stop to the production and use of nuclear arms. Their campaigning helped lead to the Limited Test Ban Treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union, effectively ending the above-ground testing of nuclear weapons. Biography Early life Ava Helen Miller, the tenth of twelve children, was raised on a farm outside Beavercreek, Oregon. Her father, George Miller, a school teacher, and her mother, Elnora Gard Miller, expressed socialist ideals and encouraged liberal thinking and discussion in the home. Linus Pauling explained, "Ava Helen had been interested in social, political and economic problems ever since she was a teenager. She used to argue with a friend of the family, one of the judges of the Oregon State Supreme Court. She had a general interest in science and was very able, very smart, but she was really concerned about human beings. The humanistic concern she had was very great." At the age of thirteen, two years after the divorce of her parents, Ava Helen moved to Salem, Oregon, to live with her sister. She graduated from Salem High School in May 1918, three years after entering, and then enrolled at Oregon State University. Higher education It was at Oregon State University in 1922 that Ava Helen Miller first met Linus Pauling. As an undergraduate, he taught a chemistry course to home economics majors. Ava Helen Pauling was enrolled in this course and it was through the student-teacher relationship that they became romantically involved. After a brief courtship, the two were married on June 17, 1923. Marriage In the early years of her marriage, Ava Helen Pauling worked as a part-time laboratory assistant at the California Institute of Technology for her husband by taking notes, making models and completing other small tasks. Eventually, the couple had