Birth: November 11, 1930
Death: February 20, 2017
Specialty: Applied Physics
Major Contributions:
Known as the queen of carbon science
First female Institute Professor and professor emerita of physics and electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom and IEEE Medal of Honor
Image: Pete Souza/US White House
Dr. Mildred Dresselhaus, known as the Queen of Carbon Chemistry, has been a trailblazer since her early days. During her first year as a doctoral student at the University of Chicago she made opportunities to interact with and learn from physicist Enrico Fermi, the man who led the team that created the world’s first nuclear reactor.
Undertaking her PhD project investigating the microwave properties of a superconductor in a magnetic field she met some unique challenges. Because the hybrid nature of her research made buying the equipment she needed off the shelf almost impossible, she found much of what she needed under the university’s football stands. After Fermi’s group had created the first man-made nuclear-fission chain reaction they had left a large amount of surplus equipment and Dresselhaus repurposed the materials including building microwave equipment to carry out her experiments.
Earning her doctorate in 1958 she was awarded a fellowship at Cornell University where she met with blatant sexism, including being told by a male colleague that a woman would never lecture to his engineering students. Leaving two years later she joined the Lincoln Laboratory at MIT where she started her work with graphite, bismuth, and other semimetals.
Seven years later she accepted a visiting professorship in electrical engineering at MIT, a position that was made permanent the next year, with joint appointment in physics added in 1983. Dresselhaus and her students have investigated the properties of graphite and carbon compounds that had been doped with bromine or potassium atoms. This group also laid the foundation for the discovery and use of materials like buckminsterfullerenes, carbon nanotubes, and graphene which have the potential to shake up the computing, energy, and transportation sectors.
Considered an active and vibrant presence at MIT she continued to be a leader in the field of carbon research and a mentor to young women entering STEM fields until her death in 2017. It was announced in 2020 that the IEEE Mildred Dresselhaus Medal would be created to recognize outstanding technical contributions in science and engineering of great impact.
Written by Angela Goad
Sources:
MIT Department of Physics: Mildred S. Dresselhaus
IEEE Spectrum: Mildred Dresselhaus: The Queen of Carbon
Mildred Dresselhaus, the ‘Queen of Carbon Science,’ Has IEEE Medal Named in Her Honor
Mildred Dresselhaus discusses her life in science
Mildred Dresselhaus, the Queen of Carbon, Dies at 86
See Also:
Google Scholar: Mildred S. Dresselhaus
CBS Evening News: No quit for the “Queen of Carbon”
Wikipedia: Buckminsterfullerene