Mary Ellen Avery was an American pediatrician. Mary Ellen Avery was born May 6, 1927, in Camden, New Jersey. Her awards were many including the E. Mead Johnson Award from the Academy of Pediatrics in 1969, the Chadwick Medal from the Massachusetts Thoracic Society in 1982, The Trudeau Medal from the American Lung Association in 1984, the Virginia Apgar Award from the Academy of Pediatrics in 1991, the National Medal of Science in 1991, the Philipson Prize in Pediatric Medicine from the Nobel Committee in 1998 and the most prestigious award in academic pediatrics, the Howland Medal, from the American Pediatric Society in 2005. Dr. Mary Ellen Avery died on December 4, 2011, at the age of 84.