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ACS Award For Encouraging Women Into Careers In The Chemical Sciences

Sponsored by the Camille & Henry Dreyfus Foundation

by Alicia Chambers
February 15, 2010 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 88, Issue 7

Dresselhaus
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Credit: Ed Quinn
Credit: Ed Quinn

When speaking with Mildred (Millie) S. Dresselhaus, two things are quite clear: She simply loves being a chemist, teacher, and mentor, and she hasn’t given a second thought to retiring. “I do this because it’s fun,” she says.

Dresselhaus, 79, is the Institute Professor and professor of physics and electrical engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Trained as a physicist, her well-known research covers a range of problems in the physics of solids with special attention to nanoscience and carbon-based and other nanostructures of particular relevance to energy-related applications. This research has made her a much honored authority in her field.

“Equal at least to her scientific accomplishments are the achievements she has made in promoting women in science,” notes Jody A. Kocsis, technology manager for engine oil product development at Lubrizol. Dresselhaus tells C&EN that one of her personal goals is to undertake at least one new project each year that helps women in science.

She is an in-demand speaker who not only lectures about her work in nanotechnology but also talks to women’s groups around the world regarding the problems women might face in their professional careers. She frequently takes time after events to speak with women individually. “I could not cover in a letter all of Millie’s more organized efforts to help women,” says Esther M. Conwell, a professor of chemistry and physics at the University of Rochester, who counts Dresselhaus as one of her mentors.

A native of Bronx, N.Y., Dresselhaus attended New York City public schools through junior high school, where she says she learned the art of survival, a skill that has helped her achieve not only academic goals but also professional ones.

Dresselhaus completed her high school education at Hunter College High School, in New York City. She then attended Hunter College, also in New York City, and received a Fulbright Fellowship to attend the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge University in 1951. After receiving an A.B. from Hunter College in 1951, an A.M. from Radcliffe College in 1953, and a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Chicago in 1958, Dresselhaus began a career in academia as a staff member in MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory in 1960 and then as the Abby Rockefeller Mauze chair holder in MIT’s department of electrical engineering and computer science in 1967, where she remains today.

Dresselhaus is the recipient of more than 25 honorary doctorates from around the world, has published more than 1,400 papers in professional journals, and received the National Medal of Science in 1990 and the Heinz Award for Technology, the Economy & Employment in 2005. Her recent awards include the L’Oreal-UNESCO 2007 North American Laureate for Women in Science, the 2008 Oersted Medal for Physics Education from the American Association for Physics Teachers, the 2008 Buckley Prize for Condensed Matter Physics from the American Physical Society, and the 2009 Vannevar Bush Award from the National Science Board.

She has also served as president of the American Physical Society, president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and treasurer of the National Academy of Sciences.

Aside from her numerous duties at MIT, Dresselhaus is an avid music lover, the devoted mother of four, and the proud grandmother of five.

Dresselhaus will present the award address before the Women Chemists Committee.

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