Erna Hamburger
Erna Hamburger 1962
BornSeptember 14, 1911
DiedMay 15, 1988

Erna Hamburger

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Erna Hamburger (September 14, 1911 – May 15, 1988) was a Swiss engineer and professor. In 1957, she became professor of electrometry at the University of Lausanne. She was the first woman in the history of Switzerland to be named a professor at a STEM university.[1][2][3]

Life and Career

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Erna Hamburger born on September 14, 1911 in Brussels, Belgium to Frederick and Else Müller. She went to secondary school in Kissingen, Bavaria. In 1933, Hamburger received an engineering-electrician diploma from the EPFL. Hamburger also received a doctorate in technical sciences from the EPFL in 1936.[2]

Before becoming a professor at the University of Lausanne, Hamburger was the head of work at the electrotechnical laboratory at the EPFL. Other positions Hamburger held include: President of the Swiss Association of Women in Liberal and Commercial Careers, president of the Association of University Women of Vaud ,and Vice President of the International Federation of University Women.[2]

One of her major innovations was her creation of an apparatus for radio-wave reception. Her radio-wave research included topics such as a system of optical registration from tone frequencies and ultra-short waves.[1]

Hamburger joined the Swiss military in 1939 and was promoted to chief of the telecommunication troops in 1950.[1]

Legacy

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Hamburger was an advocate for higher education.[3] Shortly after her death, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne -Women in Science and Humanities Foundation was created. The primary goal of this foundation is to promote and support women in higher education. Every year, the Erna Hamburger Prize is awarded to "the most influential woman in science" that year.[4]

Laureates of the Erna Hamburger Prize[4]
Year Laureate Impact in STEM
2006 Julia Higgins Chemical engineer
2007 Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard Biologist and Nobel Prize winner
2008 Frances E. Allen Computer scientist and IBM Fellow Emerita
2009 Kazuyo Sejima Architect and Pritzker Prize winner
2010 Lisa Randall Physicist
2011 Ada Yonath Biologist and Nobel Prize winner
2012 Felicitas Pauss Physicist at ETH Zurich
2013 Julia King, Baroness Brown of Cambridge British engineer
2014 Esther Duflo Economist
2015 Jill Farrant Phytologist
2016 May-Britt Moser Psychologist and Neuroscientist, winner of 2014 Nobel Prize
2017 Mary O'Kane Australian scientist and engineer
2018 Jennifer Widom Electrical engineering and computing

References

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  1. ^ a b c The biographical dictionary of women in science : pioneering lives from ancient times to the mid-20th century. Ogilvie, Marilyn Bailey., Harvey, Joy Dorothy. New York: Routledge. 2000. ISBN 0415920388. OCLC 40776839.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  2. ^ a b c "Hamburger, Erna". hls-dhs-dss.ch (in French). Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  3. ^ a b "14 juin: inauguration de la "Salle du 1er février 1959"". www.vd.ch (in French). Retrieved 2019-07-11.
  4. ^ a b "wishfoundation-2 | Erna Hamburger Prize". EPFL WISH Foundation-Women in Science and Humanities. Retrieved 2019-07-11.