5 female scientists to celebrate this International Women’s Day
This year, International Women’s Day encourages us to celebrate female leaders as we continue to strive for an equal future; it also arrives at a crucial time for modern science. After an entire year of our lives has been dictated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the rollout of various vaccines presents the opportunity of us returning to normality in the not-too-distant future.
As we tentatively celebrate this medical milestone, it’s the perfect time to honour some of the female leaders who have inspired me throughout my journey as a scientist by dedicating their lives to significant advancements in the scientific and mathematics fields.
There are countless women I could have mentioned – and many I’m yet to discover – but I’ve limited myself to five pioneering women from the past century for now.
The first hero of mine is biochemist, geneticist and professor Cynthia Kenyon. Born in Chicago, she began her scientific career studying chemistry at the University of Georgia, and soon went on to earn a Ph.D from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her work in the scientific field has spanned over 40 years, and she currently works at the University of California, and is the Vice President at Calico Research Labs. She’s best known for her intensive studies into the genetic make-up of roundworms, which has played a huge role in revolutionising our understanding of ageing in living organisms.
After discovering that genetic mutation was responsible for considerable lifespan extension in roundworms, Kenyon began investigating how her findings could apply to mammals too. Prior to her findings it was widely thought that ageing was a form of inevitable decay, similar to rusting. Her research shows, however, that genetics actually play a huge part in the ageing process; her theory has so far proven that roundworms, rats, and monkeys all age according to universal hormone signalling systems.
From here, Kenyon plans to gain a better understanding of ageing in humans and use her findings to create hugely impactful developments in age-related disease prevention. Her commitment to scientific development is regularly celebrated, with her work being recognised by awarding bodies such as the Association of American Medical Colleges.
Perhaps the most famous woman on this list is Katherine Johnson: an American mathematician and key NASA employee born in 1918, although much wider fame came towards the end of her life following Taraji P. Henson’s character portrayal in ‘Hidden Figures’, released in 2016 - a 'must watch', if you haven't already!
Her outstanding intelligence and aptitude for maths was recognised early on in her life, and she graduated with highest honours from West Virginia State College in 1937. Two years later, Johnson and two male pupils were selected as the first black students to ever attend West Virginia University, where she embarked on their graduate maths degree.
It was in 1952 that Johnson’s life really took on the trajectory that she is now celebrated for internationally. After taking time to raise her three young daughters, she applied for a ‘human computer’ position in an all-black department of NACA (now NASA) and began her career there the following summer, directed by Dorothy Vaughan.
Katherine’s intelligence, curiosity and courage soon led to her being offered a permanent position in the Flight Research Division; here she changed the course of history and carried out the work she would be most known for due to her role in the 1962 American orbital space mission.
Johnson’s prowess for maths meant she was instrumental in the development and execution of the calculations that launched the complex orbital spaceflight – Mercury-Atlas 6 – successfully. Altogether, Johnson spent over three decades carrying out invaluable work for NASA, where she wrote and co-authored 26 research reports and contributed to projects such as the Space Shuttle.
Before her death in February 2020, at 101 years old, she received American highest civil honour and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama. Not only was Katherine Johnson a hero for American space advances, but an inspirational figure in the fight for both gender and racial equality.
Another inspiration of mine is cryptanalyst Joan Clarke. She was born in Norwood, South London and attended Dulwich High School before receiving a full scholarship to study Mathematics at Cambridge University, where she graduated in 1939 with a double first. This title, however, was merely symbolic: shockingly, women weren’t awarded full degrees at the university until after the end of the second World War. I find this particularly ironic considering Clarke's pivotal role in England's defeat of the Nazis; she was recruited to join the Government Code and Cypher School (GCCS) as part of the decoding operation that went on to break Germany’s Enigma code.
Under Churchill, the government realised they had no chance of winning the war without cracking Germany’s “unbreakable” Enigma code. They scoured the country for the brightest chess champions, mathematicians, and analysts and stationed them at Bletchley Park until the task was completed.
At Bletchley, Clarke was amongst few women, most of whom were employed to carry out clerical work. During her time there, she had to work twice as hard as her male colleagues for equal recognition, as well as handling the mounting pressure of deciphering cryptic German military communications. Using a combination of cryptanalyst theory and Alan Turing’s Banburismus technique, Clarke was an integral cog that made up the Enigma-breaking machine, saving England from imminent starvation and eventual defeat.
Much like the ‘hidden figures’ behind the pioneering US space mission, a large portion of Clarke’s work went unrecognised until Kiera Knightley’s character portrayal in ‘The Imitation Game’ (2014). This is due, in part, to the covert nature of government code breaking, but is also compounded by her struggles to be viewed as equal in capability and importance to the males on her team.
Moving on to women making waves in today’s landscape is business executive Virginia (Ginni) Rometty. Born in 1957, Rometty graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in computer science and electrical engineering before joining IBM as a systems analyst in 1981.
After heading up the company’s sales, marketing and strategy teams, Rometty became CEO in 2012, and the first ever woman to lead the company. During her eight years in the position she drove huge growth for the international technology company through investments in high value and emerging IT developments. She also grew the company’s portfolio through acquisitions and leading the expansion of internal capabilities, such as analytics, security and cloud functionality. With Rometty as CEO IBM acquired 65 companies, including the largest procurement in the organisation’s history, Red Hat.
With Ginni as CEO, IBM prioritised diversity and inclusion through initiatives such as extended parental leave, breastmilk delivery, and return-to-work schemes. Her efforts extended beyond the internal business; she carried out work within the wider community to make the digital industry more accessible and diverse by creating opportunities and upskilling individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Under her leadership, IBM partnered with the City University of New York to create the innovative six-year Pathways in Technology Early College High Schools (P-TECHs), with the aim of improving the current education system. Her work with IBM has been recognised through a number of prestigious, including Bloomberg's ‘50 Most Influential People in the World’ and Forbes' ‘America's Top 50 Women In Tech’.
To round off this list - Jennifer Doudna, a biochemist, author and professor with a keen interest in the natural world. Her passion for ecological diversity and the chemistry behind living organisms was first sparked during her childhood in Hilo, Hawaii.
Doudna went on to graduate from Pomona College in Claremont, California with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, followed by a biochemistry doctorate from Harvard University. During her doctorate, she investigated the many biological functions of RNA (ribonucleic acid), and continued to explore this research in her professional career.
Her pioneering research has led to breakthroughs within the scientific community which have revolutionised our understanding of RNA. Through her dedicated and innovative work, Doudna has also become a leading figure in advancing our understanding of how CRISPR enzymes can be used to rewrite the ‘code of life’ through genome editing.
Doudna has been instrumental in the biochemistry field, not only for her impressive research findings but also through demonstrating how to be successful in such a male-dominated field. Throughout her career, she has received awards such as the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, the Gruber Prize in Genetics, and most notably the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
I hope this list has introduced you to at least one new pioneering woman, and is a small reminder to celebrate the millions of women working to fight gender inequality and drive major scientific developments every day.
Retired
3 年I would also celebrate Katherine Jonson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson for their inspirational and brilliant contribution to space exploration back in the 60's.