How One Scientist Can Make A Difference

Abstract

Millie Dresselhaus began life as the child of poor immigrants but went on to earn a PhD at the University of Chicago, become the first woman tenured full professor of engineering at MIT and, because of her scientific achievements, the first woman to win a National Medal of Science. She also held many administrative and advisory positions, supervised the graduate studies of more than 100 future scientists, and was an early and skillful advocate for women in science. She was an individual investigator, and her work was the essence of small science. But it was the originality and quantity of her research—more than 1700 research articles—that made her a much-honored legend.