Julia Weertman

Julia Randall Weertman
Born	February 10, 1926
Died	July 31, 2018

Julia Randall Weertman(February 10, 1926 – July 31, 2018) was an American materials scientist who taught atNorthwestern Universityas the Walter P. Murphy Professor of Materials Science and Engineering.

Education

She was the first female student of the College of Science and Engineering at theCarnegie Institute of Technology,where she earned her baccalaureate and graduate degrees.

Weertman met her husbandJohannesat Carnegie, and both later joined theNorthwestern Universityfaculty.

Career

In 1986, Julia Weertman was awarded aGuggenheim Fellowship.She became the first woman in the United States to lead a materials science department when she was appointed chair of Northwestern's Department of Materials Science and Engineering the next year.Weertman was granted membership into theNational Academy of Engineeringin 1988, "for exceptional research on failure mechanisms in high-temperature alloys."In 1989, she became the first female member of the Board of Directors ofThe Minerals, Metals & Materials Society.

Fellowships

She was also a fellow of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences,ASM International,theAmerican Physical Society,and theAmerican Geophysical Unionand the first female Fellow ofThe Minerals, Metals & Materials Society.

Death

Weertman died, aged 92, on July 31, 2018.