Please forward to your groups
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Career Paths in Academia: a Seminar and Discussion with Prof. Mildred Dresselhaus
Date: Tuesday, November 13
Time: 1-2pm
Room: 4-163
Contact: GSC Academics, Research, Careers, gsc-arc@mit.edu<mailto:gsc-arc@mit.edu>
Registration preferred: RSVP
form<https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dE5CdVZKWHozdk…
In this seminar, Prof. Dresselhaus will explore questions related to career paths in
academia, such as: What are career paths in academia like? How have they changed from past
to present? What future trends can we identify? Prof. Dresselhaus will also share
experiences from her own career and answer questions from the audience.
About the speaker:
Professor Mildred Dresselhaus is a native of the Bronx, and attended New York City public
schools through junior high school, and Hunter College High School. She began her
independent career in 1960 as a member of the research staff at the MIT Lincoln Laboratory
after her PhD at the University of Chicago (1958) and a two-year postdoc at Cornell
University. During that time she switched from research on superconductivity to
magneto-optics, and carried out a series of experiments which led to a fundamental
understanding of the electronic structure of semi-metals, especially graphite. This led to
her appointment as an MIT faculty member and eventually to appointment as an Institute
Professor in the departments of Physics and Electrical Engineering. She served as the
Director of the Office of Science at the US Department of Energy in 2000-01, and has been
an officer in many national organizations in physics, engineering, and related areas.
Honors and awards include 28 honorary doctorates worldwide. Other honors include the
National Medal of Science, the Nicholson Medal for Humanitarian Service, the Compton
Award, the Fermi Prize, and the Kavli Prize.
Professor Dresselhaus's research over the years has covered a wide range of topics in
condensed matter and materials physics. She is best known for her work on carbon science
and carbon nanostructures, as well as nanoscience and nanotechnology more generally. She
is also one of the researchers responsible for the resurgence of the thermoelectrics
research field through her early work on low-dimensional thermoelectricity in the early
1990s. She co-chaired a Department of Energy study on "Basic Research Needs for the
Hydrogen Economy" in 2003 and more recently co-chaired the National Academy Decadal
Study of Condensed Matter and Materials Physics. She has co-authored more than 1400
publications including books, book chapters, invited review articles, and peer-reviewed
journal articles. She is co-inventor on five US patents. Dr. Dresselhaus remains involved
in activities that promote the increased participation of women in science and
engineering. She is an enthusiastic chamber music player where she plays violin and viola,
and enjoys spending time with her husband, four children, and five grandchildren.