Isabella Karle
| Isabella Karle | |
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| Born | Isabella Helen Lugoski December 2, 1921 Detroit, Michigan |
| Nationality | United States |
| Fields | Crystallography |
| Alma mater | University of Michigan |
| Notable awards | Garvan–Olin Medal (1978) Gregori Aminoff Prize (1988) Bower Award (1993) National Medal of Science (1995) |
| Spouse | Jerome Karle (m. 1942; 3 children) |
Isabella Helen Lugoski Karle (born December 2, 1921) is an American x-ray crystallographer. In 1969 she established the structure of venom extracted from South American frogs. This was followed in 1975 with the structure of valinomycin.[1]
Life and career[edit]
Born Isabella Helen Lugoski in Detroit, Michigan, USA, on December 2, 1921, the daughter of immigrants from Poland, she attended the local public schools, where a female chemistry teacher led her to her pursuit of the field as a career.[2] She attended the University of Michigan on full scholarship, where she majored in physical chemistry and received a Bachelor of Science at age 19, followed by Master of Science and Ph.D. degrees in the field. She worked on the Manhattan Project during World War II, where she developed techniques to extract plutonium chloride from a mixture containing plutonium oxide.[3]
She joined the United States Naval Research Laboratory after the end of the war. Karle advanced the practical uses of the work her husband, Nobel Prize winner Jerome Karle, did on using X-ray scattering techniques to directly determine the structure of crystals, a technique that is used to study the biological, chemical, metallurgical and physical characteristics, allowing processes to be designed to duplicate the molecules being studied. This technique has played a major role in the development of new pharmaceutical products and other synthesized materials.[3] She was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1993.[4]
On July 31, 2009, she and her husband retired from the Naval Research Laboratory, after a combined 127 years of service to the United States Government, with Karle joining the NRL in 1946, two years after her husband.[3] Retirement ceremonies for the Karles were attended by United States Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, who presented the couple with the Department of the Navy Distinguished Civilian Service Award, the Navy's highest form of recognition to civilian employees.[3]
References[edit]
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This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in German. (December 2013) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
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- ^ Karle, I L (March 1973). "Successful women in the sciences: analysis of determinants. I. Individual life experiences. Crystallographer". Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. (UNITED STATES) 208 (1 Successful Wo): 11–4. Bibcode:1973NYASA.208...11K. doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.1973.tb30812.x. ISSN 0077-8923. PMID 4572877.
- ^ Staff. " profile", Journal of Chemical Education. Accessed September 22, 2009.
- ^ a b c d McKinney, Donna. "Jerome and Isabella Karle Retire from NRL Following Six Decades of Scientific Exploration", United States Naval Research Laboratory press release dated July 21, 2009. Accessed September 22, 2009.
- ^ "Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter K" (PDF). American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved July 29, 2014.
External links[edit]
- 2015 Video interview with Isabella Karle by Atomic Heritage Foundation Voices of the Manhattan Project
- Massa, Antonia (2013). "Isabella Karle’s Curious Crystal Method". Narratively: Human stories, boldly told. Retrieved 2013-12-05.
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- 1921 births
- Living people
- Crystallographers
- People from Detroit, Michigan
- University of Michigan alumni
- American women scientists
- American biophysicists
- National Medal of Science laureates
- Recipients of the Garvan–Olin Medal
- Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
- American physical chemists
- Manhattan Project people
- Women biophysicists
