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Vera Florence Cooper Rubin
Astronomer
Vera Florence Cooper Rubin
Astronomer
1928-2016
A trailblazer in the field of galaxy rotation rates, Rubin was the second woman ever elected to the National Academy of Sciences, and a role model for, champion of, and mentor to countless female scientists and working mothers.
At the all-female Vassar College, she was the only astronomy student in her class, and she was subsequently rejected from Princeton’s graduate program because of her gender. She went on to study at Cornell and Georgetown instead, becoming a mother and juggling her professional and family lives while pursuing her graduate work.
Rubin was the first woman allowed to observe at the Palomar Observatory; reportedly, she drew a woman and pasted it over the sign on the sole bathroom there, which had been marked “MEN.”
Her research led to the understanding that only about 20 percent of matter in the universe is visible, while the remaining 80 percent is dark matter. And today, among countless other accomplishments, an area on Mars, Vera Rubin Ridge, is named after her, as are a satellite and an asteroid.
EDUCATION
- Vassar College
- Cornell University
- Georgetown University
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
- Member, National Academy of Sciences
- Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society
- National Medal of Science
- Honorary doctorates from Harvard University, Yale University, Smith College, Grinnell College, and Princeton University
FINAL WORDS:
The New York Times has said that Rubin’s work “usher[ed] in a Copernican-scale change” in cosmological theory.
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