7 Famous Women In STEM Who Wrote and Reshaped History
July 21, 2020
by Andreea Sterea
These most famous women in STEM have had to overcome incredible obstacles to make their way in their fields. Gender bias, racism, or rigid social views on women’s status in science could have stopped them in their path. But they didn’t — quite the contrary.
The following seven ground-breakers, some of the most famous women in STEM to date, changed the world with their innovative accomplishments, paving the way for entire generations of ladies of science who have a lot to say in computing, technology, medicine, and cutting-edge breakthroughs. They are more than worthy to walk the walk of fame alongside some of the most famous female doctors, or the world’s top female engineers and inventors. Let’s meet them today and praise them for their work and achievements, without which our world would never be the same!
Mae C. Jemison
October 17, 1956 – Present
United States
Achievements: The first African-American woman to travel to space
Worked on: NASA space missions
Mae C. Jemison graduated from Stanford University with a degree in chemical engineering and graduated from Cornell University with a medical degree. After being a doctor for the Peace Corps for two years, she joined NASA’s astronaut corps in 1987.
Soon after, Jemison became the first African-American woman to travel to space. She served on the STS-47 missions, where she orbited the earth from September 12th to 20th, in 1992. A year later, Mae founded a technology research company and established a non-profit educational foundation that started the 100 Year Starship program funded by DARPA.
More on Her Work
She wrote several books for young children, teaching them about the space sciences and being an astronaut, hoping to inspire young girls like her and paving the way for women in STEM fields. We could safely assume that she served as model for other women at NASA, including astronaut and NASA electrical engineer Christina Koch, who broke the spaceflight record last year.
Of course, she is still an inspiration for other amazing women at NASA that did not go to space but changed the way we understand the universe nonetheless.
Katherine Johnson
August 26, 1918 – Present
United States
Achievements: One of the most famous female mathematicians who crunched the numbers for NASA’s first space missions
Worked on: Orbital calculations, flight paths, trajectories, launch windows, return paths
We have talked about Katherine Johnson before, but when it comes to famous women in STEM, she is worth a mention as well.
At the age of eighteen, she graduated West Virginia State College with a degree in mathematics. In 1953, Katherine was offered a job with NACA to perform precise mathematical calculations with a group of African American women. Due to federal workplace segregation laws, they were separated from their white colleagues in work and eating spaces as well restrooms.
However, the “colored computers” pool was dispersed in 1958 when NACA was taken over by NASA, and Katherine was reassigned to an all-male team. But neither racism nor sexism vanished. Katherine stated that she always had to be aggressive as she insisted on doing things women had never done before, and due to her ambition, Katherine thrived at NASA.
More on Her Work
She calculated trajectories, launch windows, and emergency return paths for the first crewed spaceflight and the 1969 moon landing. In 2015, President Obama presented Katherine with the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her vital work at NASA and for paving the way for famous women of color in STEM for years to come.
Katherine Johnson is, and will always be, one of the most famous and important female mathematicians in the history of humankind. Along Ada Lovelace, Sophie Germain, or Mary Sommerville, Katherine Johonson gave our world the tools it needed to function. Known in some circles as the “human computer,”she helped humanity understand better the mysteries of our reality and the great universe.
7 Famous Female Mathematicians and Their Legacies - We can’t imagine a world without Math, but it’s harder to imagine one without these seven famous female mathematicians who helped humankind move forward.
Tu Youyou
December 30, 1930 – Present
China
Achievements: First Chinese woman to be awarded a Nobel Prize
Worked on: Malaria treatment
In 1955, while living in a culture that discouraged women in STEM fields, she graduated from the Beijing Medical University School of Pharmacy and studied herbal medicine for two years after.
In 1969, Tu was made the head of Project 523, a research group charged with finding a treatment for malaria that was plaguing China. While scientists from around the world had tried over 240,000 compounds, Tu had the idea to use herbal medicine.
More on Her Work
She found a compound called “sweet woodworm,” which had been used for thousands of years to treat fevers. Tu discovered it using a lower temperature extraction process, rather than the traditional boiling water.
This innovation allowed her to extract an antimalarial substance from the woodworm. In 1972, she found the element – artemisinin – a compound that saved millions of lives. In 2015, she became the first Chinese woman to be awarded a Nobel Prize.
Her work put Tu on the list of some of the most important women in medicine of all times.
Françoise Barré-Sinoussi
July 30, 1947 – Present
France
Achievements: Identified that human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
Worked on: The implementation of procedures in prevention, clinical care, and treatment of AIDS
There was an AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, and in 1983, Sinoussi’s work identified that human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was the cause of the disease. Her discovery was the foundation for diagnostic testing and treatments to help combat this deadly illness. If we, today, have HIV vaccines in trial and testing, most of this accomplishment we owe to Françoise Sinoussi.
More on Her Work
Françoise, now named “The HIV Hunter,” started a research laboratory in 1988. There, she made vast discoveries and contributions in the fight against AIDs, including the development of “elite suppressors” to limit HIV spreading. Sinoussi also founded clinics in developing countries to help manage AIDS epidemics.
Through her research, she helped implement procedures in prevention, clinical care, and treatment around the world that could never have been done without her. This achievement alone makes her one of the most famous women in STEM that saved millions of lives.
- 9 Famous Female Doctors That Changed the World - These famous women doctors defied the social and racial prejudices that discouraged certain people from practicing science and went on to improve millions of lives through their research and discoveries.
Marie Skłodowska Curie
November 7, 1867 – July 4, 1934
Poland
Achievements: The only woman of science to win the Nobel Prize twice in two different scientific fields
Worked on: Radioactivity, chemistry
Marie Curie lived her life as one of the most famous women in STEM who made a vital impact in the fields of both physics and chemistry. When it comes to famous female physicists, the name of Marie Curie endures, becoming an icon and a role-model for the contemporary generation of women in STEM.
She gained practical training in physics at the Flying University in Poland. In 1891, she moved to Paris, where she began her scientific career. She developed and coined the theory of radioactivity, and through this knowledge, invented mobile radiography units, later used to diagnose, operate, and treat French soldiers during World War I.
More on Her Work
Marie Curie directed treatments of neoplasms using her discovery and research of radioactive isotopes and also uncovered two elements, polonium (named after her native country) and radium. She founded the Curie Institutes in both her homeland, Poland, and her adopted land, France, which remain prominent medical research centers to this day.
Curie was the first female scientist in history to win a Nobel Prize, the only woman of science to win the Nobel Prize twice, and the only person in history to win the Nobel Prize for outstanding achievements in two different scientific fields: physics and chemistry.
- Famous Female Physicists that Revolutionized Science - When it comes to hard sciences, history proved unfair to women too many times before. But their determination and passion allowed them to hold their ground and push their projects further. Let's celebrate seven famous female physicists who helped us understand the world better while making it a better place!
Lydia Villa-Komaroff
August 7, 1947 – Present
United States
Achievements: Found a molecule responsible for the degeneration of brain cells in Alzheimer’s disease
Worked on: DNA, medicine, technology
In 1970, Lydia Villa-Komaroff began attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for work in molecular biology. In 1973, while still working on a graduate’s degree at MIT, she became a founding member of the Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science.
Just two years after that, she completed her Ph.D. Thus, she became the third Mexican American woman of science in the United States to obtain a doctorate. She went to Harvard to research DNA, but her work was banned in 1976 over concerns of DNA experiments.
More on Her Work
Six months later, she returned. Within another six months’ time, she discovered that bacterial cells could be used to generate insulin. Her research found a molecule that is linked with Alzheimer’s disease and is the origin of the degeneration of brain cells. Komaroff’s work helped present evidence that inspired a field devoted to the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.
Jane C. Wrigh
November 20, 1919 – February 19, 2013
United States
Achievements: Her research built the foundation for cancer treatments
Worked on: Chemotherapy
A woman of science whose name you’ve heard before if you read our previous articles on women in science and medicine, Jane C. Wright received a full scholarship at New York Medical College. In 1955 joined a research group at New York University Bellevue Medical Center. At the time, chemotherapy was not widely used to treat cancer.
Dr. Wright thought that chemotherapy could be a much more effective treatment. Jane was the first person to identify methotrexate, a groundbreaking chemotherapy drug, and successful treatment for cancerous tumors.
More on Her Work
Methotrexate is still used today to treat breast cancer and skin cancer, and still is considered the basis of all chemotherapy. Jane worked internationally throughout her career. She got involved in treating cancer patients in China, the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and Africa.
In 1971, Jane was the first woman to be president of the New York Cancer Society. She saved millions of lives. Now, she is not only one of the most celebrated female doctors in history, but one of the most famous and important women in STEM as well.
- 9 Famous Female Doctors That Changed the World - These famous women doctors defied the social and racial prejudices that discouraged certain people from practicing science and went on to improve millions of lives through their research and discoveries.
So What Did We Learn?
Women reshape our world’s history day by day, advancing science and technology for the greater good of humankind. If you want to learn more about some of the most critical names and works of contemporary women in science, we recommend you to read our article on remarkable women leaders in technology today, and even follow on social media some of the most prominent female game changers in science. Trust us, these ladies are more than inspirational, they are beacons of hope.
Do you know other famous women in STEM whose research and discoveries helped save and shape the world as we know it? If you have other feminine role models in science, drop us a line and let’s keep the conversation going!