Mildred S. Dresselhaus (1930−2017): A Pinnacle of Scholarship Nai-Chang Yeh
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predicted and empirically verified that single-wall carbon nanotubes could be either semiconducting or metallic, depending on the chiral vector of the nanotube. She also proposed new concepts to advance the thermoelectric figure of merit through low-dimensional and nanoscale structures, which became an important research direction for the development of modern thermoelectric materials. Millie published over 1200 papers, and authored four books in her primary research fields: [1] Group Theory: Application to the Physics of Condensed Matter, Springer (2008); [2] Thermoelectricity: Thermoelectric and Thermomagnetic Properties in Low-Dimensional and Nanoscale Materials”, Springer (2010); [3] Graphite Fibers and Filaments, Springer, (2011); and [4] Raman Spectroscopy in Graphene Related Systems, Wiley (2011). She won countless professional honors and awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom (2014), Kavli Prize of Nanoscience (2012), Enrico Fermi Award (2012), Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize (2008), Oersted Medal (2007), L’Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science (2007), and National Medal of Science (1990). She was an elected member of the National Academy of Engineering, National Academy of Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. In addition to her amazing accomplishments in physics, Millie was a fine musician specializing in both violin and viola. In fact, music played an important role in Millie’s life since her childhood, including her early education, which began with a music scholarship for violin studies; her eventual study of physics through the induction of her music scholarship to better schools; and her later appointment to the MIT faculty through knowing Professor von Hippel of the MIT Electrical Engineering Department (MIT Physics Annual 2009, pages 47− 51). In the first decade of her professorial appointment at MIT, Millie was a member of the von Hippel Quartet and played regularly for group activities. Although she became too busy to remain a member of the quartet after she became the Head of the Center for Materials Science and Engineering at MIT in 1977, Millie kept playing music regularly until age 86, typically twice a week in the evenings at home with friends. In many ways, it seemed that the beauty and harmony of music had migrated into Millie’s character so that she was always able to conduct herself with amazing calmness and wisdom regardless of the circumstances. Millie was also a virtuous role model to young people. She was a compassionate mentor, a strong advocate for women in science and engineering, and a selfless citizen of the scientific community. She advised more than 75 Ph.D. students throughout her career at MIT, including about 20% women
n traditional Chinese culture, a great scholar must possess three quintessential attributes: virtuosity, versatility, and virtue. Such scholarship is considered to be the pinnacle of accomplishment to which all intellectuals aspire. In my opinion, Professor Mildred S. Dresselhaus, fondly known as “Millie” and “Queen of Carbon Science”, is one of those great scholars whose shining example will be ageless.
Photo courtesy of Prof. Riichiro Saito, reprinted with permission from Li, Y.; Buriak, J. M.; Gogotsi, Y.; Hersam, M. C.; Kagan, C. R.; Weiss, P. S. ACS Nano, 2017, 11, 2307−2308. Copyright 2017 American Chemical Society. Millie was a true virtuoso in physics. She made major contributions to the research fields of carbon-based nanomaterials (including graphite, graphite intercalation compounds, carbon fibers, fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, and graphene) and thermoelectric effects of low-dimensional and nanoscale structures. She pioneered magneto-optic studies in graphite and greatly expanded the research scope of graphite intercalation compounds. She was among the first to consider stretching fullerenes to carbon nanotubes and then theoretically © XXXX American Chemical Society
Received: June 1, 2017
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DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.7b03868 ACS Nano XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXX
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ACS Nano and a significant number of under-represented minorities. As an advisor, Millie was always supportive and attentive to the development of individual students. She was amazingly patient and placed strong emphasis on training our communication skills in writing and oral presentations. As one of her Ph.D. students from the winter of 1983 to January of 1988, I remember the dry runs that Millie helped us rehearse for our conference presentations and her meticulous handwritten comments and corrections to multiple drafts of my research papers and the 400+ pages of my Ph.D. thesis. Her tireless mentorship was truly beneficial to the career development of all her students so that we learned to convey our research ideas and results clearly, rigorously, and effectively. Aside from being a fine academic advisor, Millie was kind, compassionate, and generous to people around her. Every Thanksgiving Millie would host and personally prepare a wonderful dinner in her home for her group members. She would also throw parties for her students when they received their Ph.D. degrees. When Millie won the prestigious Kavli Prize in 2012, she decided to use the $1 million prize to establish the Mildred S. Dresselhaus Fund at MIT to support women or junior members of the faculty. In her own words, Millie believed that her Kavli prize “happened because of the investment MIT made in me many years ago through the generosity of others” so she wanted to establish the fund “because this was the best investment I could think of for this money”. Millie also contributed to the scientific community by taking up important roles, including serving as the President of the American Physical Society in 1984, Treasurer of the National Academy of Sciences from 1992 to 1996, President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1997, and Director of the Office of Science at the U.S. Department of Energy from 2000 to 2001. In 1999, Millie received the Dwight Nicholson Medal for Outreach from the American Physical Society “for being a compassionate mentor and lifelong f riend to young scientists; for setting high standards as researchers, teachers and citizens; and for promoting international ties in science”, which eloquently summed up Millie’s impact well beyond her own research. Millie lived a brilliant and wonderful life. At age 86, she was still fully engaged in research and professional activities until she fell ill briefly and then passed away on February 20, 2017. Although Millie is no longer with us, her pinnacled scholarship through the virtuosity, versatility, and virtue that she demonstrated will always be remembered and celebrated.
AUTHOR INFORMATION ORCID
Nai-Chang Yeh: 0000-0002-1826-419X Notes
The author declares no competing financial interest.
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DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.7b03868 ACS Nano XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXX
