Marie Tharp
Marie Tharp was an American geologist and oceanographic cartographer.
Dame Maggie Aderin-Pocock, PhD
Dame Maggie Aderin-Pocock, PhD, is a British space scientist and science educator.
Christine Darden
Christine Darden is an aerospace engineer whose research at NASA advanced supersonic flight.
Kimberly Bryant
Kimberly Bryant is an engineer and the founder of Black Girls Code.
Valerie Thomas
Valerie Thomas invented the patented illusion transmitter, a 3D imaging technology.
Katharine Way, PhD
Katharine Way, PhD, was a physicist who made significant contributions to the Manhattan Project.
Mary Brunkow, PhD
Mary Brunkow, PhD, shared the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Nancy Grace Roman, PhD
Nancy Grace Roman, PhD, was an American astronomer known as the “Mother of the Hubble Space Telescope.”
Margaret “Hap” Brennecke
Margaret “Hap” Brennecke was the first female welding engineer employed at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.
Kate Okikiolu, PhD
Kate Okikiolu, PhD, is a mathematician whose work has advanced the fields of geometric analysis and spectral geometry.
Cynthia Kenyon, PhD
Cynthia Kenyon, PhD, is a molecular biologist whose research transformed how scientists understand aging.
Dame Elizabeth Anionwu
Professor Dame Elizabeth is a pioneering British nurse who became the UK’s first sickle cell and thalassemia specialist nurse.
Katie Bouman, PhD
Katie Bouman, PhD, is a computer scientist and imaging engineer whose algorithms helped create the first-ever image of a black hole.
Marcia McNutt, PhD
Marcia McNutt, PhD, is the first woman President of the National Academy of Sciences.
Danielle Ignace, PhD
Danielle Ignace, PhD, is an ecophysiologist and environmental scientist.
Freda Porter, PhD
Freda Porter, PhD, is a mathematician and environmental scientist.
Jani Ingram, PhD
Jani Ingram, PhD, is a chemist and environmental health researcher.
Andrea Delgado-Olson
Andrea Delgado-Olson is a computer scientist and Indigenous STEM advocate.
Lydia Jennings, PhD
Lydia Jennings PhD, is a soil microbiologist and an advocate for Indigenous representation and sovereignty in science.
Ashanti Johnson, PhD
Ashanti Johnson, PhD, is a geochemist and STEM education leader.
Esther Lederberg, PhD
Esther Lederberg, PhD, was a pioneer of bacterial genetics.
Guillermina Lozano, PhD
Guillermina Lozano, PhD, is a Mexican-American geneticist.
Ximena Cid, PhD
Ximena Cid, PhD, is the first Latina and Indigenous student to earn a PhD in physics from UT Arlington.
Ali Guarneros Luna
Ali Guarneros Luna is a Mexican aerospace engineer.
Ana Maria Rey, PhD
Ana Maria Rey, PhD, is a pioneering theoretical physicist.
Grace Hopper, PhD
Grace Hopper, PhD, was a pioneering computer scientist and U.S. Navy rear admiral.
Margaret Rossiter, PhD
Margaret Rossiter was an American historian of science who uncovered overlooked contributions of women in STEM. She coined the term “Matilda Effect” to describe how women’s discoveries were often credited to men.
Mona Hanna, MD
Mona Hanna, MD, is a pediatrician and public health advocate who exposed the Flint water crisis.
Fardin Oliaei
Fardin Oliaei is an environmental scientist whose research exposed the dangers of perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) in Minnesota’s waterways.
Meenakshi Bhattacharjee, PhD
Meenakshi Bhattacharjee, PhD, is an internationally recognized cyano-bacteriologist.
Sara Seager, PhD
Sara Seager, PhD, is an astronomer and planetary scientist.
Dorothy Vaughan
Dorothy Vaughan was a computer scientist and mathematician, and NASA’s first Black supervisor. She was part of the team of mathematicians who worked on John Glenn’s first launch into space, as depicted in the movie “Hidden Figures.”
Jewel Plummer Cobb, PhD
Jewel Plummer Cobb, PhD, was an American biologist and cancer researcher.
Kathryn Sullivan, PhD
Kathryn Sullivan, PhD, is the only person to have both orbited the Earth and descended to the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of Earth’s oceans.
Maryna Viazovska, PhD
Maryna Viazovska, PhD, is only the second woman to win a Fields Medal.
Jeanette Epps, PhD
Jeanette Epps, PhD, is an aerospace engineer and NASA astronaut.
Annie Jump Cannon
Annie Jump Cannon is known as “the census taker of the sky.”
Megan Smith
Megan Smith was the first woman appointed United States Chief Technology Officer.
Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, PhD
Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, PhD, is a theoretical cosmologist and particle physicist.
Lauren Esposito, PhD
Lauren Esposito, PhD, is one of the world’s only women scorpion experts.
Fei-Fei Li, PhD
Fei-Fei Li, PhD, is a Chinese-American computer scientist known for her pioneering work in AI.
Lin Lanying, PhD
Lin Lanying, PhD, is known as “the mother of semiconductor materials” in China.
Katsuko Saruhashi, PhD
Katsuko Saruhashi, PhD, was the first woman to win Japan’s Miyake Prize for geochemistry.
Sunita Williams
Sunita Williams, a NASA astronaut, holds the record for the most total spacewalk time by a woman.
Sylvia Earle, PhD
Sylvia Earle, PhD, is a world-renowned marine biologist dedicated to ocean conservation.
Jedidah C. Isler, PhD
Jedidah C. Isler, PhD, is an astrophysicist and was the first African-American woman to complete her PhD in astrophysics at Yale.
June Almeida, PhD
June Almeida, PhD, was a virologist who pioneered virus imaging and identification.
Regina Benjamin, MD, MBA
Regina Benjamin, MD, MBA, served as the 18th Surgeon General of the United States.
Vera Rubin, PhD
Vera Rubin, PhD, was an American astronomer who discovered dark matter.
Marthe Gautier
Marthe Gautier was a French physician who discovered the genetic cause of Down syndrome.
Kizzmekia S. Corbett-Helaire, PhD
Kizzmekia S. Corbett-Helaire, PhD, is an viral immunologist whose work was key to the development of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Dorothy J. Phillips, PhD
Dorothy J. Phillips, PhD, is the first African-American woman president of the American Chemical Society.
Miranda Teboh-Ewungkem, PhD
Miranda Teboh-Ewungkem, PhD, is a mathematician and mathematical biologist.
Aprille Joy Ericsson, PhD
Aprille Joy Ericsson, PhD, is an aerospace engineer who served as the US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Science and Technology.
May-Britt Moser, PhD
May-Britt Moser, PhD, is a Norwegian neuroscientist who shared half of the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Radia Perlman, PhD
Radia Perlman, PhD, developed the Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) algorithm, an innovation that made today’s Internet possible.
Ada E. Yonath, PhD
Ada E. Yonath, PhD, shared the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her studies on the structure and function of the ribosome.
Rachel Holloway Lloyd, PhD
Rachel Holloway Lloyd was the first American woman to earn a doctoral degree in chemistry.
Emmanuelle Charpentier, PhD
Emmanuelle Charpentier, PhD, shared the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Jennifer Doudna, PhD
Jennifer Doudna, PhD, shared the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Karen Uhlenbeck, PhD
Karen Uhlenbeck, PhD, is an American mathematician and one of the founders of modern geometric analysis.
Karletta Chief, PhD
Karletta Chief, PhD, (Diné) is an Associate Professor and Extension Specialist at the University of Arizona.
Kelsey Leonard, PhD
Kelsey Leonard, PhD, was the first Native American woman to earn a science degree from the University of Oxford.
Nicole Anunapu Mann
Nicole Anunapu Mann is the first Native American woman to go to space.
Maria Zuber, PhD
Maria Zuber, PhD, is an American geophysicist and planetary scientist.
Janet Rowley, MD
Janet Rowley, MD, an American geneticist, was the first scientist to prove that cancer is a genetic disease.
Ruth Gonzalez, PhD
Ruth Gonzalez, PhD, is the first US-born Hispanic woman to earn a doctorate in mathematics.
Mercedes Pascual, PhD
Mercedes Pascual, PhD, is an Uruguayan theoretical ecologist.
Adriana Ocampo Uria, PhD
Adriana Ocampo Uria, PhD, is a Colombian planetary geologist.
María Blasco, PhD
María Blasco, PhD, is world-renowned expert in telomeres and telomerase, and the director of the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre.
Idelisa Bonnelly
Idelisa Bonnelly was a Dominican marine biologist who is considered the “mother of marine conservation in the Caribbean.”
Alexandra Navrotsky, PhD
Alexandra Navrotsky, PhD, is a physical chemist who has been described as the world’s leading scientist in the field of thermochemistry of minerals and solid-state materials.
Susan Solomon, PhD
Susan Solomon, PhD, is an atmospheric chemist whose work formed the basis of the U.N. Montreal Protocol.
Margaret Hamilton
Margaret Hamilton is one of the first computer software programmers.
Rita Colwell, PhD
Rita Colwell, PhD, was the first woman to serve as director of the National Science Foundation.
Virginia Holsinger, PhD
Virginia Holsinger, PhD, was an American chemist whose research led to the development of LactAid.
Vanessa Wyche
Vanessa Wyche is the first Black woman to lead a NASA center.
Maxine Frank Singer, PhD
Maxine Frank Singer, PhD, was an American molecular biologist.
Carolyn Ruth Bertozzi, PhD
Carolyn Ruth Bertozzi, PhD, shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2022.
Anneke Levelt Sengers, PhD
Anneke Levelt Sengers, PhD, was a Dutch physicist who studied the behavior of fluids.
Rochelle Diamond
Rochelle Diamond is a research biologist and chair emeritus of Out to Innovate.
Jeanne Marrazzo, MD, MPH
Jeanne Marrazzo, MD, MPH, is the first member of the LGBT community to be director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Sally Ride, PhD
Sally Ride, PhD, was the first American woman in space.
Michiyo Tsujimura, PhD
Michiyo Tsujimura, PhD, the first female doctor of agriculture in Japan.
Marian Croak, PhD
Marian Croak, PhD, developed the Voice Over Internet Protocols (VoIP) technology.
Makenzie Lystrup, PhD
Makenzie Lystrup, PhD, is the first female director of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
Anne L’Huillier, PhD
Anne L’Huillier, PhD, is a French physicist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2023.
Betty Holberton
Betty Holberton was one of the original programmers of the first general-purpose electronic digital computer, ENIAC.
Alice Hamilton, MD
Alice Hamilton, MD, was an American physician, and an expert in the field of occupational health.
Yvonne Y. Clark
Yvonne Y. Clark was the first woman to receive a mechanical engineering degree from Howard University.
Dr. Donna Strickland, PhD
Donna Strickland, PhD is the third woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics.
Susana López Charretón, PhD
Susana López Charretón, PhD, is a Mexican virologist whose study of rotaviruses has led to life-saving vaccines.
Lydia Villa-Komaroff, PhD
Lydia Villa-Komaroff, PhD is a molecular biologist whose research on recombinant DNA uncovered a way to use bacteria cells to make insulin.
Serena Auñón-Chancellor, MD
Dr. Serena Auñón-Chancellor is the second Hispanic woman to fly into outer space.
Ildaura Murillo-Rohde, PhD, RN, FAAN
Ildaura Murillo-Rohde, PhD, RN, FAAN founded the National Association of Hispanic Nurses in 1975.
Rachel Carson
Rachel Carson is the author of Silent Spring, which is widely credited with helping launch the environmental movement.
Stephanie Kwolek
Stephanie Kwolek was a Polish-American chemist who invented Kevlar.
Frances Arnold, PhD
Frances Arnold received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2018 for her research on the use of directed evolution to design new enzymes.
Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, PhD
Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, PhD is an astrophysicist who discovered the first radio pulsars as a postgraduate student.
Gerty Theresa Cori
Gerty Theresa Cori was the first woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Rosalyn Yalow, PhD
Rosalyn Sussman Yalow, PhD, was the first American-born woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Virginia Tower Norwood
Virginia Tower Norwood was an American aerospace engineer, inventor, and physicist, and a founding figure in the field of satellite land imaging.
Bertha Parker
As the first Indigenous archaeologist, Bertha Parker discovered humans lived in a cave 10,000 years ago — the earliest evidence of humans in America at the time.
Dijanna Figueroa, PhD
Dr. Dijanna Figueroa, the “Deep Ocean Doctor,” is a marine scientist and educator who works extensively to make STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics) education more accessible to all children. In 2005, she was featured in James Cameron’s Aliens of the Deep, a documentary that explores the Mid-Ocean Ridge. She has also appeared on […]
Dr. Antonia Novello, PhD
Dr. Antonia Novello was the first woman and the first person of Hispanic origin to become the Surgeon General of the United States.
Dr. Helen Rodríguez Trías, PhD
Dr. Helen Rodríguez Trías was the first Latina director of the American Public Health Association and dedicated her career to advocating for women’s health.
Sylvia Acevedo
Sylvia Acevedo is a rocket scientist, entrepreneur, tech executive, and author of “Path to the Stars: My Journey from Girl Scout to Rocket Scientist.”
Dr. Ellen Ochoa, PhD
Dr. Ellen Ochoa was the first Hispanic woman to go to space and serve as director of the Johnson Space Center.
Diana Trujillo
Diana Trujillo is an aerospace engineer and Flight Director at NASA’s Jet Propulsion laboratory. She currently leads the Robotic Arm System team for the Mars Perseverance mission.
Jane Goodall
Jane Goodall was an anthropologist and primatologist. She was an expert on chimpanzees, and worked to raise awareness on environmental conservation.
Rebecca Lee Crumpler
Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler was the first African American woman to obtain an M.D. degree and worked as a nurse in Boston, Massachusetts.
Dr. France Cordova, PhD
Dr. France Córdova is known for her work as an astrophysicist in the Los Alamos National Laboratory where she studied white dwarfs and pulsars.
Lori Alvord
Dr. Lori Arviso Alvord is the first Navajo woman to be certified in surgery and is a role model for the Navajo community.
Sau Lan Wu, PhD
Dr. Sau Lan Wu is a particle physicist who helped confirm the existence of three fundamental particles, the building blocks of protons, the J/psi, gluon, and Higgs boson.
Dr. Sameera Moussa, PhD
Dr. Sameera Moussa was the first Egyptian nuclear scientist. She was a strong supporter of peace, so she organized the Atomic Energy for Peace Conference.
Dr. Maud Menten, PhD
Dr. Maud Menten, a biochemist, is most known for her work in the field of enzyme kinetics and advancing the field of histochemistry.
Dr. Barbara McClintock, PhD
Dr. Barbara McClintock was a pioneer in the field of cytogenetics, the study of chromosomes, and in 1983, she won a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Ada Lovelace
Ada Lovelace, an English mathematician, wrote the first algorithm for a machine in the 1800s and is considered the first computer programmer.
Dr. Dorothy Hodgkin, PhD
Dr. Dorothy Hodgkin was an English chemist who researched the molecular structure of penicillin and Vitamin B, earning her the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Maria Goeppert Mayer, PhD
German physicist Dr. Maria Goeppert Mayer made groundbreaking discoveries about nuclear structure that led her to win the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1963.
Dr. Gloria Twine Chisum, PhD
Dr. Gloria Twine Chisum is an experimental psychologist known for creating protective eyewear for pilots suitable for extreme conditions.
Dr. Kalpana Chawla, PhD
Dr. Kalpana Chawla was an astronaut and aerospace engineer on the space shuttle Columbia, and the first Indian woman in space.
Dr. Beth Brown, PhD
Dr. Beth Brown was an American astrophysicist and the first black woman to obtain a Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of Michigan.
June Bacon-Bercey
June Bacon-Bercey was an on-air meteorologist and the first African-American to earn an undergraduate degree in meteorology from UCLA.
Dr. Caroline Still Anderson, M.D.
Dr. Caroline Still Anderson was a physician dedicated to education and improving the social and political conditions for other African-Americans.
Chien-Shiung Wu, PhD
Dr. Chien-Shiung Wu was an experimental physicist known for her contributions to the Manhattan Project and discovering how to separate uranium isotopes.
Dr. Janaki Ammal, PhD
Dr. Janaki Ammal was India’s first female botanist and her work encouraged India to protect its rich biodiversity.
Josephine Silone Yates
Josephine Silone Yates was a science educator who was active in women’s and civil rights organizations, traveling across the country to deliver speeches.
Dr. Jane Cook Wright, PhD
Dr. Wright was a surgeon and cancer researcher who became the first African American woman to become an associate dean of a medical institution.
Dr. Marguerite Thomas Williams, PhD
Dr. Marguerite Thomas Williams was the first African-American to earn a Ph.D. in geology. She taught at Miner Teachers College and Howard University.
Tu Youyou
Tu Youyou is the first Chinese woman to win a Nobel Prize for her discovery of artemisinin, a drug used to treat malaria.
Dr. Mary Logan Reddick, PhD
Dr. Mary Logan Reddick contributed to the scientific understanding of embryonic development through her studies on chicken embryos.
Dr. Inez Beverly Prosser, PhD
Dr. Inez Beverly Prosser was the first Black woman to earn a Ph.D. in psychology and assisted black students with attaining loans and funds for college.
Dr. Jessie Isabelle Price, PhD
Dr. Jessie Isabelle Price was a pioneering veterinary microbiologist known for creating methods to control microbial diseases in waterfowl.
Dr. Susan La Flesche Picotte, MD
Dr. Susan La Flesche Picotte was the first Indigenous woman to become a physician and worked tirelessly to increase healthcare access for the Omaha tribe.
Dr. Audrey Shields Penn, PhD
Dr. Audrey Shields Penn is the first African-American woman to become acting director of a branch of the National Institute of Health (NIH).
Dr. Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, PhD
Dr. Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin was an astronomer credited with discovering the chemical composition of stars.
Carolyn Parker
Carolyn Parker was the first African American to earn a postgraduate degree in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Dr. Joan Murrell Owens, PhD
Dr. Joan Murrell Owens was a marine biologist who classified the genus of Rhombopsammia, a type of button corals and three new species.
Dr. Ruth Ella Moore, PhD
Dr. Ruth Ella Moore was known as the first African American woman in the United States who acquired a PhD in natural sciences.
Maria Mitchell
Astronomer Maria Mitchell was the first American to discover a comet, specifically C/1847 T1 – originally known as “Miss Mitchell’s Comet.”
Maryam Mirzakhani
Dr. Maryam Mirzakhani was a mathematics professor at Stanford University and the only woman to ever receive the Fields Medal, the highest honor in mathematics.
Dr. Lillie Rosa Minoka-Hill, PhD
Dr. Lillie Rosa Minoka-Hill was the second Indigenous woman in the United States to hold an M.D. degree. She treated people from the local Oneida reservation near home free of charge.
Ynés Mexía
Ynés Mexía was a botanist and conservationist that advocated to protect the redwood forests of California. She collected over 145,000 specimens over her 13-year career.
Dr. Ruth Smith Lloyd, PhD
Dr. Ruth Lloyd was the first African American woman to acquire her doctorate degree in Anatomy, and an active member of the American Association of Anatomists.
Inge Lehmann
Inge Lehmann was a seismologist that discovered that the Earth’s inner core is solid surrounded by a molten outer core. In 1971, she was honored with the William Bowie Medal — the highest distinction of the American Geophysical Union.
Dr. Margaret Morgan Lawrence, PhD
Dr. Margaret Morgan Lawrence became the first African-American woman to practice psychoanalysis in the United States. She remained devoted to assisting underprivileged children throughout her career.
Hedy Lamarr
Hedy Lamarr was an actress and inventor known as the “mother of Wi-Fi.” The technology she helped develop is the basis for GPS, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth technology today.
Angie Turner King, PhD
Angie King was an African American chemist, mathematician, and educator. After her retirement, she received an honorary Doctor of Laws Degree.
Irène Joliot-Curie, PhD
Dr. Irène Joliot-Curie was a French physicist and chemist. In 1935, she and her husband shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work on the synthesis of new radioactive elements.
Dr. Anna Johnson Julian, PhD
Dr. Anna Johnson Julian was the first African-American woman to receive a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Pennsylvania.
Katherine Johnson
Katherine Johnson was a NASA mathematician who helped calculate the flight path for NASA’s first manned space mission in 1962. Her life and career was depicted in the movie “Hidden Figures.”
Dr. Mae C. Jemison, PhD
Dr. Jemison is a doctor and astronaut who was the first African American woman to travel into outer space. Currently, she is leading the 100 Year Starship Project.
Shirley Jackson, PhD
Dr. Shirley Jackson is a theoretical physicist and the 18th president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). In 2016, she was awarded the National Medal of Science for her work in physics and science-rooted public policy.
Dr. Jane Hinton, PhD
Dr. Jane Hinton was a veterinarian who researched bacterial resistance. She was one of the first African-American veterinarians to establish her own practice in Massachusetts.
Mary Elliott Hill
Mary Elliott Hill was an organic and analytical chemist who helped develop ketene synthesis, a process that aids in the development of plastics.
Rosalind Franklin, PhD
Rosalind Franklin was an English chemist and X-ray crystallographer who helped discover the molecular structure of DNA at King’s College.
Dr. Dorothy Celeste Boulding Ferebee, PhD
Dr. Dorothy Celeste Boulding Ferebee was a physician who established the Southeast Neighborhood House to give black communities greater access to healthcare.
Gertrude Elion
Gertrude Elion was a biochemist and pharmacologist who helped develop drugs using “rational drug design” to attack pathogens without harming human cells.
Marie Maynard Daly, PhD
Dr. Marie Daly was the first African-American woman to receive a doctorate in chemistry in the United States. She left a lasting legacy by a scholarship fund for minority students in science programs.
Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Marie Curie was the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize for discovering radium and polonium. Her work in radiation paved the way for new cancer treatments.
Dr. May Edward Chinn, PhD
Dr. May Edward Chinn was a physician who advocated for new cancer detection methods and was the first black woman to hold an internship at Harlem Hospital.
Dr. Alexa Canady, PhD
Dr. Alexa Canady is the first African-American woman to become a neurosurgeon and has helped thousands of pediatric patients over her 31-year career.
Dr. Patricia Bath, PhD
Dr. Patricia Bath is an ophthalmologist known for inventing the Laserphaco Probe, a tool used in cataract surgery, and the first Black female doctor to receive a medical patent.
Virginia Apgar, MD, MPH
Dr. Virginia Apgar was an American physician known for her method of assessing newborn viability called the “Apgar score.”
Mary Anning
Mary Anning found the first Ichthyosaurus, a marine reptile, when she was twelve. She also found the first complete skeleton of a Plesiosaurus and the first Pterosaur.
Alice Ball
Alice Ball, a chemist, developed the first successful treatment for Hansen’s disease, also known as leprosy.
Dr. Estelle Ramey, PhD
Dr. Estelle Ramey, one of AWIS’ founders, passed away September 8, 2006, at her home in Bethesda, Maryland, at the age of 89.