 Born in <unk> Lake on Vancouver Island , British Columbia , Kelsey was graduated by St. Margaret 's School high school at age 15 , and attended Victoria College , British Columbia ( 1930 – 1931 ) in Victoria , British Columbia ( now University of Victoria ) . She then enrolled at McGill University to study pharmacology . At McGill , she received both a B.Sc. ( 1934 ) and a M.Sc. ( 1935 ) in pharmacology , and " on [ a ] professor 's urging , wrote to <unk> Geiling , M.D. , a noted researcher [ who ] was starting up a new pharmacology department at the University of Chicago , asking for a position doing graduate work " . Geiling presumed that Frances was a man and offered her the position . Kelsey accepted and began working for Geiling in 1936 . 
