Mildred Dresselhaus Guest Professorship
There was great joy when Mildred Dresselhaus of the Department of Physics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) agreed in 2012 to become the namesake of CUI's newly initiated Guest Professorship Program. Mildred Dresselhaus has been committed to improving opportunities for women in the sciences her entire professional life, and therefore made a conscious decision to support the content of the program.
For the promotion of female researchers
Each year, the program honors one outstanding established scientist and one highly promising young scientist. The award is presented in a festive setting.
- The female scientists receive personal prize money of Euro 20,000 (Senior Award) and Euro 10,000 (Junior Award) plus a certificate.
- They will be invited to work in the cluster for up to six months
- and to benefit from the excellent research conditions.
- New opportunities for collaboration arise, and existing contacts are deepened.
- The award winners give lectures or focus on a research topic.
- In the process, they act as important role models for female researchers in the field and shape the image of what can be possible.
- They are excellent advisors for young natural scientists who are still at the beginning of their careers.
Ad personam
Mildred Dresselhaus, Professor of Physics and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was a clear role model and leader in promoting opportunities for women in science and engineering.
She was born to Polish immigrants in the Bronx, New York, in 1930. As a young woman, she was advised that the only jobs open to her were schoolteacher, secretary or nurse. However, inspired by her physics teacher and future Nobel Laureate Rosalyn Yalow, she graduated from Hunter College with a science degree in 1951.
In 1958 Mildred Dresselhaus obtained her Ph.D. at the University of Chicago and – after marrying and giving birth to four children – she became the first tenured professor in MIT‘s engineering department in 1968.
Mildred Dresselhaus died on 20 February 2017 at age 86: MIT News
Mildred Dresselhaus Magazine "Careers in Science"
"I am very pleased to have the opportunity to write a few words about how much I appreciate the establishment of the Mildred Dresselhaus Professorship at the Hamburg Centre for Ultrafast Imaging in my honour," wrote Mildred Dresselhaus in her welcoming address to our magazine a few weeks before the highly respected scientist passed away in February 2017. The Mildred Dresselhaus Magazine - "Careers in Science" (PDF) provides interesting insights into the life of Mildred Dresselhaus and the award winners through portraits and questionnaires that the prizewinners filled out: How do scientific careers develop? What shapes them? Family background, diligence and hard work? Coincidence? Or all of the above?
In 2022, the English edition of the magazine got a new look and a new, catchy title. The latest "Careers in Science" edition, published in 2024, features all the winners and the program's 10th anniversary.