Elizabeth Anne McMahan, known as Betty, was born in 1924 and had a multifaceted career spanning entomology, psychology, cartooning, and children's literature. She spent 26 years as a Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, establishing herself as a respected figure in academic science. Early in her career, McMahan worked in the parapsychology laboratory of J. B. Rhine at Duke University. She later pursued graduate work in entomology at the University of Hawaiʻi, where she shifted her focus to the study of insects. Her research concentrated on the feeding, foraging, and social behavior of termites, as well as their associated and predator species. McMahan's field research took her across the globe, including expeditions to Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela, Ecuador, Australia, and India. Her contributions to entomology were recognized through the naming of two insect species in her honor: the assassin bug Salyavata mcmahanae and the beetle Neophilotermes mcmahanae. Beyond her scientific work, she was also known as a world traveler, cartoonist, and writer of children's books. McMahan died in 2009.