Chien-Shiung Wu
Chien-Shiung Wu (1912 - 1997) was an experimental physicist who started her career at UC Berkeley Radiation Laboratory (precursor to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Her experiments helped two colleagues win the 1957 Nobel Prize in Physics. She taught at Princeton and Columbia Universities and won many awards for her work.
Ellen Ochoa
Ellen Ochoa (1958 - present) worked as a researcher at Sandia National Laboratory, co-inventing two patents for hybrid optical/digital image processing. She was the first Hispanic women in space, traveling aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery in 1993. She is a classically trained flutist and has four schools named after her in three states.
Annie Easley
Annie Easley (1933 - 2011) was a computer scientist, mathematician, and rocket scientist who worked at NASA, starting before it was even called NASA. She co-authored numerous papers about nuclear engines in rockets throughout her career. She trained African Americans to take the voting test that Alabama required prior to the 1960s civil rights law which banned such practice.
Evelyn Boyd Granville
Evelyn Boyd Granville (1924 - 2023) was a pioneer of the study of molecular structures receiving recognition among scientists for her research on the molecular structure of coal, viruses, and DNA. In 2003 The Royal Society established the Rosalind Franklin Award to bring attention to outstanding work of women in STEM.
Barbara McClintock
Barbara McClintock (1902 - 1992) was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Physiology for Medicine as a result of her own work. She discovered genetic transposition, when genes change positions on chromosomes, by studying corn for 26 years.
Nora Stanton Blatch Barney
Nora Stanton Blatch Barney (1883-1971) was the first woman to get a degree in civil engineering in the United States. She solved a key problem in hydrodynamics while doing her thesis research at Cornell. She sued the American Society of Civil Engineers after they only allowed her to be a junior member. She was the first woman ever admitted to the organization.
Historic Hero: Ada Lovelace
Ada Lovelace's ideas are still used in computing today. Students learn how Lovelace, who was born in 1815 to Romantic poet Lord Byron, was encouraged by her parents to study math. Through a chance encounter, she met a mathematician who took her under his wing; her ideas later helped to expand upon and create what is today considered the first computer program.
Middle School STEM Lottery 2024 - 2025
Deadline to apply for the Middle School STEM Lottery - March 7, 2024
Application will be available at www.kisd4stem.org or at the counselor's office. Application available for download in this newsletter.
