375: Ada Yonath Biologist who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2009 Born: 22 June 1939, Geula, Jerusalem, Britain Mandate of Palestine (Present-day Israel) Ada received her PhD in 1968. Her work has largely been with ribosomes; beginning in the 1970’s, her hard work became a reality in 2000 with the successful mapping of…
374: Edith M. Flanigen Chemist Who Invented Molecular Sieve Zeolites Born: 28 January 1929, Buffalo, New York, United States of America Zeolites are used in everything from converting crude oil into gasoline and producing oxygen for portable medical oxygen units to cleaning up nuclear waste and even in laundry detergents. Edith started her chemistry career…
373: Mary Leakey Paleoanthropologist and Archaeologist Born: 6 February 1913, London, United Kingdom Died: 9 December 1996, Nairobi, Kenya Mary was noted for her ability to create beautiful scientific illustrations, and it was this skill that first led to her being in the field. She and her husband worked together for over thirty years studying…
372: Anna J Harrison Chemist and the First Woman Elected President of the American Chemical Society Born: 23 December 1912, Benton City, Missouri, United States of America Died: 8 August 1998, Holyoke, Massachusetts, United States of America Anna was a professor of chemistry at Mount Holyoke College for over thirty years. As a child, she…
371: Janaki Ammal Botanist Born: 4 November 1897, Tellichery (Present-day Thalassery), India Died: 7 February 1984, Maduravoyal, Chennai, India Born Name: Edavaleth Kakkat Janaki Ammal Janaki earned her Doctor of Science degree in botany in 1931, becoming the first Indian woman to earn a PhD in botany. She was the first “oriental” (the University News’s…
370: Irène Joliot-Curie Chemist and Daughter of Marie Curie Born: 12 September 1897, Paris, France Died: 17 March 1956, Paris, France She worked as a nurse radiographer alongside her mother during the First World War. Irène earned her PhD in 1925. Irène was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1935 for her work in…
369: Sofia Kovalevskaya Mathematician and Education Rights Advocate Born: 15 January 1850, Moscow, Russia Died: 10 February 1891, Stockholm, Sweden Original/Alternate Spellings: Sofya, Sophie, or Sonya Sofia stated her exposure to math began at a young age when her room was repapered with her father’s old calculus notes rather than wallpaper (this despite the fact…
“The name of Emily Warren Roebling will…be inseparably associated with all that is admirable in human nature and all that is wonderful in the constructive world of art” -Abram Hewitt (On the Bridge itself): “An everlasting monument to the self-sacrificing devotion of a woman and of her capacity for that higher education from which she…
367: Maria Mitchell First Female Astronomer in the United States Born: 1 August 1818, Nantucket, Massachusetts, United States of America Died: 28 June 1898, Lynn, Massachusetts, United States of America Her name was pronounced Mariah (think Mariah Carey). Maria was also the first American scientist to discover a comet, the first woman elected to the…
These are the People born in the country of Iran, whether it be the modern country as we see it on the map or a person born in that region before Iran came to be. Entries: Atefah Sahaaleh, Executed By Her Government For Crimes Against Chastity–Even Though She was a Rape Victim Fereshteh Forough, CEO…