Gone in 2016: Ten Notable Women in Science and Technology
By Maia WeinstockThis year marked the passing of some of our most beloved cultural icons—from David Bowie, Prince, and George Michael to Harper Lee, Gwen Ifill, and Zaha Hadid. But we also lost the developer of the first effective treatment for sickle cell disease, the co-discoverer of dark matter, and the creator of a 3-D printer that spits out living cells as "bio-ink."
Now in its fourth year, this annual remembrance of notable women in the sciences lost in the past 12 months highlights 10 individuals who made indelible marks on their respective fields. At a time when scientists in general are too often overlooked for their crucial contributions to society, it bears noting that high-achieving women in the STEM fields often go especially underappreciated. With this in mind, here's a look at some of the stars of science and technology who left us in 2016.
Ann Caracristi
Ann Caracristi, a leading American cryptanalyst—or code-breaker—who served as deputy director of the U.S. National Security Administration, died in January at the age of 94. Caracristi became a cryptanalyst in 1942, during the heart of World War II, and quickly developed a skill for pattern recognition and reconstructing enemy codes. In addition to her technical abilities, Caracristi was known for her work ensuring that colleagues’ secret code-breaking efforts arrived safely at their proper destinations. As an NSA agent, Caracristi was a leader in the early application of computers to cryptanalysis, and she developed a laboratory for studying covert communications. In 1975, Caracristi became the first woman to be promoted to the senior-level rank of GS-18 at the NSA, and in 1980 she was the first woman to be named NSA’s deputy director. That same year, she received the U.S. Department of Defense’s highest civilian honor, the Distinguished Civilian Service Award. She retired from the NSA in 1982.
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Ruth Hubbard
Credit: Elijah Wald via Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons license.
A longtime biologist at Harvard University and a renowned feminist critic of science, Ruth Hubbard passed away on September 1 at the age of 92. As a scientist, Hubbard was best known for her work on the biochemistry of vision: With her PhD advisor—and future husband—George Wald, she helped to elucidate how eyes turn light into information. In particular, Hubbard played a key role in identifying how the eye pigment rhodopsin assists in absorbing light. (Wald would later go on to earn a Nobel Prize for his work on the mechanisms of vision.) After finishing her PhD at Radcliffe College, Hubbard became a full-time researcher at Harvard. But by the late 1960s, she shifted her attention toward the process of scientific inquiry itself. She began studying inequities in the sciences and taught a unique class on the impact of the absence of women in science and medicine. In 1973, under pressure from women's groups at Harvard, Hubbard was finally promoted: She became the first woman to receive tenure in the field of biology. Thereafter, Hubbard established herself as a prominent voice for women and people of color in the STEM fields. She noted in the early 1980s that these arenas were largely comprised of “a self-perpetuating, self-reflexive group: by the chosen for the chosen.” In her later years, Hubbard published several books on the role of women in science, and she remained an activist in support of women until her final days.
