Lucy Wilson

Lucy Wilson (October 19, 1888 – September 22, 1980) was an American physicist, known for her research on theories of vision, optics and X-ray spectroscopy.[2]

Lucy Wilson
Born(1888-10-19)October 19, 1888
Bloomington, Illinois, U.S.
DiedSeptember 22, 1980(1980-09-22) (aged 91)
Wellesley, Massachusetts, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
EducationWellesley College, B.A. 1909
Johns Hopkins University, Ph.D. 1917
Scientific career
FieldsVision
Optics
Spectroscopy
InstitutionsMount Holyoke College
Wellesley College
ThesisThe structure of the 2536 Mercury line[1]
Doctoral advisorsJoseph Sweetman Ames

Biography

She was born October 19, 1888 in Bloomington, Illinois, the daughter of Lucy Barron White and John James Speed Wilson Jr.[2] Her father worked for American Telephone and Telegraph in Chicago as did his father and her younger brother. Her younger brother had begun to attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology two years after Lucy Wilson had entered Wellesley. Lucy not only studied the science field but also had an interest in language especially German which she studied in high school. Her grandfather had attended Harvard College and the Harvard Medical School. Her family was definitely involved in schooling as well as trying to obtain a higher education. For example, Lucys aunt was one of the early women graduates of Oberlin College and taught History.[3] When Wilson was about 2, her father died and her mother took the young Lucy and her baby brother to live with their grandparents in Bloomington. Her mother had attended Houghton Seminary in Clinton.[3] Her and her family were an Episcopalian family.

Wilson earned her bachelors from Wellesley College in 1909, following which she became an assistant and then an instructor in physics at Mount Holyoke College until 1911.[2] She left this position to complete a PhD at Johns Hopkins University, and received a position at Wellesley College in 1917.[3]

She became a professor in physics and psychology in 1935. This dual appointment was a result of work in both perception and optics. From 1938 she also held administrative positions, beginning with acting dean of college in 1938 and then as the College's first dean of students in 1939.[2] In 1945 she was named the Sarah Frances Whiting professor,[2] a position created in honor of the Wesley College physicist and astronomer Sarah Frances Whiting. She retired in 1954, following which the senior class established a scholarship fund in her name.[2]

Positions
  • 1.Professor in physics and psychology in 1935.
  • 2.Administration Positions
  • 3.Instructor at Mt. Holyoke

Death

Wilson died on September 22, 1980 in Wellesley, Massachusetts.[2]

See also

References
  1. Wilson, Lucy (1917). The structure of the 2536 Mercury line. Johns Hopkins University.
  2. Olgivie, Marilyn; Harvey, Joy, eds. (2000). "Wilson, Lucy (1888-1980)". The biographical dictionary of women in science, L-Z. New York: Routledge. p. 1386. ISBN 9780415920407.
  3. Wilson, Lucy (4 October 1978). "Lucy Wilson - Session I". Oral Histories (Interview). Interviewed by Katherine Sopka. at Wilson's home, Wellesley, Massachusetts. Retrieved 2016-07-27 – via Niels Bohr History and Archives of the American Institute of Physics.
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