Mildred Dresselhaus, the pioneering scientist and engineer, has sadly passed away at the age of 86. Born in 1930 in Brooklyn and raised in the Bronx, Dresselhaus was the first female Institute Professor at MIT – where she focused mainly on graphite, graphite intercalation compounds, carbon nanotubes and low-dimensional thermoelectrics – and a significant figure in the development of nanoscience as a new field of energy research.
She was awarded the National Medal of Science in 1990 for her research into the electronic properties of materials, as well as for promoting opportunities for women in science and engineering. Millie also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama in 2014 and was the first woman to win the National Medal of Science in Engineering. Her work was distinguished by many other awards, including the National Medal of Science and the Enrico Fermi Award, and she was the first solo recipient of a Kavli Prize for her contribution to the study of phonons, electron-phonon interactions, and thermal transport in nanostructures
