Women in Nuclear

Women have made substantial contributions to chemistry, physics and nuclear science from the earliest days of exploration of radiation through to the development of nuclear power. These contributions continue today, despite most women experiencing severe obstacles and handicaps in access to education, research and employment opportunities and funding. Many succeeded anyway, sometimes at great personal cost. In honor of Women’s History Month, we are pleased to introduce a few of these amazing scientists, researchers, innovators, regulators and leaders to you. Names in white (with corresponding black and white images) are historical contributors. Names in gold (and color images) are contemporary women working today. (Some contemporary women in the below list link directly to their LinkedIn profiles and you’ll find their image there.)

Rita baranwal sm

Rita Baranwal

Dr. Rita Baranwal was nominated by the President to serve as the Assistant Secretary for the Office of Nuclear Energy ...
Rosalyn yalow

Rosalyn Yalow

Rosalyn Yalomw was a nuclear physicist. She developed radioimmunoassay (RIA) together with doctor Solomon Berson. RIA is used to measure ...
Aline des cloizeaux, Nuclear Power division director

Aline Des Cloizeaux

Aline Des Cloizeaux is currently serving as the Nuclear Power division Director at the IAEA, based in Vienna, Austria ...
Grace Stanke

Grace Stanke

Grace Stanke, as the reigning Miss America, has literally changed the face of nuclear power. As a 21-year old nuclear ...
Harriet brooks

Harriet Brooks

Harriet Brooks was a physicist whose experiments helped to solve the question of what particles were emitted during radiation. As ...
Katy huff

Katy Huff

D r. Kathryn D. Huff serves as the Acting Assistant Secretary and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of ...
Lise meitner in 1906

Lise Meitner

Dr. Lise Meitner (1878 - 1968) is one of the most significant woman scientists of the 20th Century for her ...
Isabelle boemeke

Isabelle Boemeke

Isabelle Boemeke is a social media influencer who has chosen to use her star power as a fashion model to ...
Eunice Newton Foote

Eunice Newton Foote

Eunice Newton Foote, a descendant of Sir Isaac Newton through her father, is believed to be the first scientist to ...
Tikvah alper

Tikvah Alper

Tikvah Alper (1909 - 1995) was a renowned radiobiologist and physicist whose work on identifying the infection agent in Scrapie ...
Katharine Way

Katharine Way

American physicist Katharine Way (1902-1995) is best known for establishing the Nuclear Data Project, an effort to organize and share ...
Jks 3311 ir v2

Kirsty Gogan

Kirsty Gogan is the founder and managing partner of LucidCatalyst and TerraPraxis, and is an internationally sought-after advisor to governments, ...
Edith quimby

Edith Quimby

Edith Quimby (1891 - 1982) was a pioneer in the field of radiation physics, a founder of nuclear medicine, and ...
Chien shiung wu

Chien-Shiung Wu

Chien-Shiung Wu, also known as the “First Lady of Physics,” was a Chinese American particle and experimental physicist who worked ...
Kristine sviniki

Kristine Svinicki

Kristine Svinicki was first appointed to the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (U.S. NRC) in 2008 by President Obama. She ...
Rosalind franklin

Rosalind Franklin

Rosalind Franklin was a chemist and X-ray crystallographer who is best known for her work on the structure of DNA, ...
Clarice Phelps

Clarice Phelps

Clarice Evone Phelps (née Salone) is an American nuclear chemist researching the processing of radioactive transuranic elements at the US ...
Tatjana Jevremovic

Tatjana Jevremovic

[Note: this bio being included in our "Women in Nuclear" series, was adapted from a bio that first appeared on ...
Irene curie joliot

Irene Joliot-Curie

Irene Joliot-Curie (1897 - 1956) was a chemist and physicist known for her work on natural and artificial radioactivity, transmutation ...
Rumina velshi

Rumina Velshi

Rumina Velshi was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of the CNSC in August 2018.Ms. Velshi has had a long association ...
Meredith angwin 2

Meredith Angwin

Meredith Angwin is a chemist, author and electricity and grid expert, who published "Shorting the Grid: The Hidden Fragility of ...
Mary lou dunzik gougar

Mary Lou Dunzik-Gougar

Mary Lou is the associate dean of the Idaho State University (ISU) College of Science and a senior reactor operator ...
Ida Noddack

Ida Noddack

Ida Noddack (1895 - 1978) was a German chemist who overcame obstacles including sexism and restrictive provisions under the Nazi ...
Marie curie in 1920

Marie Curie

Marie Curie (1867 - 1934) was a physicist and chemist whose pioneering research in radioactivity won her two Nobel Prizes ...

Organizations Supporting Women in Nuclear

  • WiN Global (Women in Nuclear Global) — an organization of women working professionally in various fields of nuclear energy and radiation applications, with 35,000 members working in 129 countries.
  • Women in Nuclear IAEA — WiN IAEA is an organization based in Vienna committed to the advancement of qualified women in the nuclear and radiation professions.
  • Nucleation Capital — the first venture fund devoted to investing in advanced nuclear innovation and other deep decarbonization technologies and a firm founded by a woman, is pleased to have provided grant funding to the University of California at Berkeley to provide stipends to female nuclear engineering students seeking summer internships.

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