Jump to content

Esther M. Conwell

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Esther M. Conwell
Conwell in 2010
Born(1922-05-23)May 23, 1922
New York
DiedNovember 16, 2014(2014-11-16)(aged 92)
Rochester, New York
EducationBrooklyn College(1942)
University of Rochester(M.S., 1945)
University of Chicago(Ph.D., 1948)
AwardsIEEE Edison Medal(1997)
National Medal of Science(2009)
Scientific career
FieldsPhysics
InstitutionsUniversity of Rochester
Bell Laboratories

Esther Marley Conwell(May 23, 1922 – November 16, 2014) was a pioneering Americanchemistandphysicist,best known for the Conwell-Weisskopf theory that describes how electrons travel through semiconductors, a breakthrough that helped revolutionize modern computing.[1][2][3]During her life, she was described as one of the most important women in science.

Conwell studied properties ofsemiconductorsandorganic conductors,especiallyelectron transport.In 1990, she became an adjunct professor at theUniversity of Rochesterwhile still working at Xerox. In 1998, she joined the University of Rochester faculty full-time as a professor ofchemistry,focused on the flow of electrons throughDNA.[3]

Conwell held fourpatentsand published more than 270 papers and multiple textbooks over the course of her career. Her textbook,High Field Transport in Semiconductors,became the authoritative text in the field.[4][5]She received numerous honors, including theNational Medal of Sciencein 2009.

Education[edit]

Conwell obtained a physics B.A. fromBrooklyn Collegein 1942. She then went to theUniversity of Rochesterto complete a M.S. in physics in 1945 withVictor Weisskopf.She initially planned to do a Ph.D. at Rochester, but since her adviser left to work atLos Alamosafter her first year there, she completed her masters and obtained a Ph.D. at a later point in time. Conwell collaborated withKarl Lark-Horovitzand Vivian Johnson atPurdue Universityonsiliconandgermaniumsemiconductor physics. Her masters was initially classified then finally declassified in 1945 and subsequently her M.S. was awarded in which she determined the Conwell-Weisskopf theory.[6][7]Conwell received her physics Ph.D. in 1948, from theUniversity of Chicagounder the advisement of Nobel LaureateSubrahmanyan ChandrasekharatYerkes Observatoryand was also an assistant toEnrico Fermi.She was a teaching assistant at Chicago and graded the work of Nobel Laureates such asChen-Ning YangandOwen Chamberlain.[7]

Career[edit]

After her first year of graduate school, she was employed byWestern Electricas an assistant engineer. At the time, payroll did not have a job title code for female assistant engineers so her title was changed to engineers assistant and her pay reduced to fit an existing code.[3]

She was an instructor in physics at Brooklyn College (1946–1951). She then worked as a researcher atBell Laboratories(1951–1952) where she studied withWilliam Shockleyon the effects of high electric fields on electron transport in semiconductors.[8]She then became a staff member atSylvaniawhich was then taken over byGTELaboratories (1952–1972). In 1972 she joined theXeroxWilson Research Center, where she was a research fellow from 1981 to 1998. At Xerox, she investigated transport and optical properties of doped polymers such as those used for photoreceptors in copiers. Conwell was the associate director of theNSFCenter for Photoinduced Charge Transfer at University of Rochester starting in 1991. She spent a year as a visiting professor atÉcole Normale Supérieurein 1962 and a semester as the Abby Rockefeller Mauzé Professor atMITin 1972.[5]

Honors and awards[edit]

Conwell was made a fellow of theIEEEin 1980 “for contributions to semiconductor theory, particularly transport in both low and high electric fields.”[6] She was also a fellow of theAmerican Physical Society.She is one of the few who have the triple membership in theNational Academy of Engineering,National Academy of Sciences,and theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences(1992)[8]and is the only member of the University of Rochester to achieve this.[9]

She had received the Achievement Award of theSociety of Women Engineers(1960)[10]and an HonoraryD.Sc.from Brooklyn College in 1992.[11]

Conwell receiving the National Medal of Science from President Barack Obama

In 1997 she received the IEEEEdison Medalfor "fundamental contributions to transport theory in semiconductor and organic conductors, and their application to the semiconductor, electronic copying and printing industries." She was the first woman to win this award. Other notable awardees includeAlexander Graham Bell,Vannevar Bush,andMichael Pupin.[5][12]

In November 2002, Discover magazine listed Conwell as one of the 50 most important women scientists at the time.[1]

In 2004 she received a Dreyfus Senior Faculty Mentor Award for serving as a research mentor to undergraduates. In 2006, the University of Rochester honored Conwell with a Susan B. Anthony Lifetime Achievement Award for her efforts in advocating and promoting women in science.[5]

TheACS Award for Encouraging Women into Careers in the Chemical Scienceswas awarded to her in 2008.[13][12]

In 2009, Conwell received the prestigiousNational Medal of Sciencefrom PresidentBarack Obama,for "her broad contributions to understanding electron and hole transport in semiconducting materials, which helped to enable commercial applications of semiconductor and organic electronic devices, and for extending her analysis to studying the electronic properties of DNA."[14][12]She was nominated byMildred Dresselhaus,a professor of physics and electrical engineering atMITand a National Medals of Science winner.[15]

Personal life[edit]

Esther Conwell was born in 1922 in New York City. She had two sisters and both of her parents were immigrants.[7]

Her son, Lewis Rothberg, is also a tenured professor of physics, physical chemistry, and chemical engineering at the University of Rochester;[16]his research focuses onorganic electronicsand biomolecular sensing using laser energetics.[17]

On November 16, 2014, Conwell was walking when she was struck by her neighbor's car as he was backing out of his driveway. Capt. David Catholdi of theBrightonPolice Department stated that alcohol and speed were not factors in the incident. She was taken toStrong Memorial Hospital,where she died from her injuries several hours later. She was 92 years old and was still actively pursuing research.[2]

References[edit]

  1. ^abSvitil, Kathy (1 November 2002)."The 50 Most Important Women in Science".Discover.Retrieved21 December2014.
  2. ^abFreile, Victoria (18 November 2014)."UR Professor Esther Conwell remembered as a trailblazer".Democrat & Chronicle.Retrieved21 December2014.
  3. ^abcIglinski, Peter (2014-11-17)."Esther Conwell, pioneering professor of chemistry, dies at 92".Retrieved12 April2017.
  4. ^Byers, Nina; Williams, Gary (August 17, 2006).Out of the shadows: contributions of twentieth-century women to physics.Cambridge University Press. p. 317.ISBN978-0521821971.Retrieved27 September2018.
  5. ^abcd"Esther Conwell".University of Rochester.
  6. ^abColburn, Robert (16 June 2017)."How Four Pioneering Women in Technology Got Their Big Break".The Institute.Retrieved27 September2018.
  7. ^abcAshrafi, Babak (2015-01-14)."Interview of Esther Conwell by Babak Ashrafi".Retrieved12 April2017.
  8. ^ab"Esther M. Conwell".Niels Bohr Library & Archives.American Institute of Physics.Retrieved27 September2018.
  9. ^Krauss, Todd (2015)."TRIBUTE Esther Conwell '44 (MS): 'Lived and Breathed Science'"(PDF).ROCHESTER REVIEW.p. 61.Retrieved27 September2018.
  10. ^"Achievement Award Recipients".The Society of Women Engineers.Retrieved27 September2018.[permanent dead link]
  11. ^"Esther Marly Conwell 1922 –".CONTRIBUTIONS OF 20TH CENTURY WOMEN TO PHYSICS.Retrieved27 September2018.
  12. ^abcRothberg, Lewis; Duke, Charles B.; Dresselhaus, Mildred (May 2015)."Esther Marly Conwell".Physics Today.68(5): 63.Bibcode:2015PhT....68e..63R.doi:10.1063/PT.3.2791.
  13. ^"ACS Award for Encouraging Women into Careers in the Chemical Sciences".American Chemical Society.Retrieved21 December2014.
  14. ^"Remarks by the President in Presenting National Medals of Science and National Medals of Technology and Innovation".whitehouse.gov.Retrieved21 December2014– viaNational Archives.
  15. ^"University of Rochester's Esther Conwell, a Pioneering Woman Scientist, to Receive the National Medal of Science".Retrieved13 April2017.
  16. ^Garmire, Elsa (2016)."ESTHER M. CONWELL".Memorial Tributes.Vol. 20.doi:10.17226/23394.ISBN978-0-309-43729-5.Retrieved27 September2018.
  17. ^"Lewis Rothberg".University of Rochester.Retrieved27 September2018.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Esther_M._Conwell&oldid=1230801218"