Jenny Rosenthal Bramley

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Jenny Rosenthal Bramley
Moscow, Russia
DiedMay 26, 1997(1997-05-26) (aged 87)
NationalityRussian
Known forFirst woman to earn Ph.D in physics from an American institution
Scientific career
FieldsPhysics

Jenny Rosenthal Bramley (July 31, 1909 – May 26, 1997) was a Russian-born American physicist. She held numerous patents on

IEEE.[2]

Personal life

Bramley was born Jenny Rosenthal in Moscow on July 31, 1909.[1] Her parents were Lithuanian, and she and her family left Russia as part of a hostage exchange between Lithuania and the Soviet Union. She attended high school in Berlin and earned her bachelor's degree from the University of Paris in 1926 at age 16.[3][4]

She spoke English, Russian, French, and German, and she used her language skills many times at professional meetings and to translate technical articles.[1]

Bramley received both a master's degree in 1927 and a doctorate in 1929 at age 19 from New York University (NYU).[3] University officials at NYU claim she became the first woman to receive a Ph.D. in physics from an American institution.[4] However, three women (Mary Chilton Noyes, Caroline Willard Baldwin, and Isabelle Stone) were awarded doctorates in physics from American institutions in the nineteenth century,[5] and evidence suggests at least 26 women earned doctorates in physics before 1929.[4][6]

Bramley met her husband, Arthur Bramley, while working as a physicist at the United States Army Signal Corps Engineering Laboratory in Belmar, NJ. She died on May 26, 1997, at age 87 in Lancaster, PA,[7] and was survived by a daughter, son, eleven grandchildren, and one great-granddaughter.[4] She was proceeded in death by her husband and one son.

Career

After graduating from New York University Bramley did research at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Michigan before teaching at Brooklyn College and New York University.[8]

Along with

nuclear charge on hyperfine structure and isotopic shift – an effect still known as the Breit–Rosenthal correction.[9] She contributed to a number of other fields including applying electroluminescence to solid state displays and storage devices and developing high efficiency lasers. Bramley also invented coding techniques and methods of decoding pictorial information, later used in classified studies.[10]

During

Monmouth Junior College, where she served as head of the mathematics department.[12]

Honors and awards

Legacy

In 1997, New York University named a physics laboratory in honor of Bramley.[15][16]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Dr. Jenny Rosenthal Bramley". CECOM Historical Office. U.S. Army Live Blog. Archived from the original on 2 March 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  2. ^ "Jenny Rosenthal Bramley – GHN: IEEE Global History Network". Ieeeghn.org. Retrieved 2014-02-17.
  3. ^
    Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  4. ^ a b c d "Jenny Bramley, 87, Physicist and Inventor". New York Times. 2 June 1997. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  5. JSTOR 40222081
    .
  6. ^ "IEEE Northern Virginia Section | 1977-78 Past Chair". 2014-02-03. Archived from the original on 2014-02-03. Retrieved 2022-03-09.
  7. Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  8. ^ "Bramley was first woman to receive Ph.D in physics". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. June 3, 1997. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  9. . Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  10. on 2016-12-20. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  11. ^ "AAUW Journal, Volumes 36-37". American Association of University Women. 36–37. 1942. Retrieved June 17, 2014. My work is secret in nature. After the war I hope to be able to publish some of it.
  12. . Retrieved 17 June 2014. Jenny Rosenthal Bramley.
  13. ^ "APS Fellow Archive". American Physical Society. (search on year=1936 and institution=Columbia University)
  14. Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  15. ^ "Jenny Rosenthal Bramley". NYU Department of Physics. Retrieved October 18, 2023.