Valedictorian of her OACS class, three-time alumni president of her Cornell class of '46, Louise attained honors and recognition in home economics, her Cornell major, before switching fields in 1957, to social psychology. She went on to be a national leader in this field, earning her PhD from Cornell in 1965 and becoming the Chief of Epidemiologic and Psychosocial Research for the federal National Institute on Drug Abuse. In this role in 1974, she launched the National Survey on Drug Abuse, which continues to be conducted today. Louise held many significant positions in the Food and Drug Adminstration, National Institutes of Health, and other government agencies, and has won numerous awards for her research work.