Myriam Sarachik

Myriam P. Sarachik (born August 8, 1933 in Antwerp, Belgium)[3] is an American experimental physicist, and since 1996 is a Distinguished Professor of Physics at The City College of New York. She joined the Physics Department in 1964.[4] Her work is primarily in the field of low temperature condensed matter physics, in which she focuses on molecular nanomagnets and novel phenomena in dilute two-dimensional electron systems.[5]

Myriam Sarachik
Myriam Sarachik at Women & Minorities in STEM edit-a-thon at the APS March Meeting 2019
Born
Myriam Morgenstein [1]

(1933-08-08) August 8, 1933
Antwerp, Belgium
Alma materColumbia University (M.S., 1957; Ph.D, 1960, Physics)
Barnard College (B.A., 1954 Physics) [2]
Scientific career
FieldsPhysics
InstitutionsCity College of New York

In 2020 Sarachik was awarded the American Physical Society (APS) Medal for Exceptional Achievement in Research for her "contributions to the physics of electronic transport in solids and molecular magnetism".[6][7] She was President of APS in 2003, and was awarded the Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Physics Prize in 2005.[8] In 2008 she was elected to the governing council of the National Academy of Sciences.[9]

She was active in defending scientists' human rights as a member and chair of the Committee on the International Freedom of Scientists of the APS, a long-time member of the Human Rights of Scientists Committee of the New York Academy of Sciences, and a board member of the Committee of Concerned Scientists.[10]

Education

She graduated from the Bronx High School of Science in New York and received her B.A. at Barnard College in 1954, her M.S. at Columbia University in 1957, and her Ph.D. at Columbia University in 1960.[3] where her advisor was Richard Garwin.[11] Her PhD looked into measuring the attenuation of a magnetic field by Type-I superconducting films.

Honors and awards

Sarachik has received the following honors:[3]

  • Member, National Academy of Sciences
  • Fellow, American Physical Society
  • Fellow, New York Academy of Sciences
  • Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science.
  • Recipient, 1995 NYC Mayor's Award for Excellence in Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences.
  • Recipient, 2004 Sloan Public Service Award from the Fund for the City of New York
  • Recipient, 2005 APS Oliver E. Buckley Prize in Condensed Matter Physics
  • Recipient, 2006 Honorary Doctor of Science degree from Amherst College.
  • Recipient, 2020 APS Medal for Exceptional Achievement in Research[12][7]

Career

While working at the Bell Telephone Laboratories in the 1960s, Sarachik's experiments provided the first data that confirmed the Kondo effect.[7]

Throughout her career Sarachik has held the following positions:[3]

  • 1954-60 Research Assistant, IBM Watson Laboratories, Columbia University
  • 1960-61 Research Associate, IBM Watson Laboratories, Columbia University; and Instructor, City College, City University of New York
  • 1962-64 Postdoctoral position, Bell Telephone Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ[7]
  • 1965-67 Assistant Professor, City College, City University of New York
  • 1967-71 Associate Professor, City College, City University of New York
  • 1971–present Professor, City College, City University of New York
  • 1975-78 Executive Officer, CUNY Ph.D. Program in Physics
  • 1995–present Distinguished Professor, City College, City University of New York

Personal life

Myriam P. Sarachik (nee Morgenstein)[11] was born in Antwerp, Belgium in 1933. In 1940, at the age of 6, Sarachik and her family fled Belgium towards Calais, France during the Nazi invasion. In 1941, in an attempt to cross the border between France and Spain, Sarachik was apprehended and interned in Merignac, a concentration camp near Bordeaux. She was then transferred to Camp de la Lande near Tours. She escaped the same year, and was smuggled across the border between German-occupied France and Vichy France.[4][13]

She spent the next five and a half years in Cuba as a refugee, where she attended school and learnt Spanish and English.

In 1947, Sarachik and her family were granted visas to enter the United States and moved to New York.

Sarachik is married to Philip, a professor of electrical engineering.[4][7] They had two children, Karen and Leah. In 1970, 5-year-old Leah was kidnapped by Sarachik’s housekeeper in the family car. The housekeeeper's body was found 12 days later, and Leah's body was found another month later.[14][15]

References
  1. BIO: Myrian Sarachik", ilcml.com, O Instituto de Literatura Comparada Margarida Losa. Puerto, Portugal
  2. Profile: Myriam Sarachik, City College of New York
  3. Clark, W. Gilbert (ed.). "Sarachik, Myriam P". Contributions of 20th century women to physics. University of California Los Angeles. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
  4. Sarachik, Myriam P. (2018-03-10). "Pushing Boundaries: My Personal and Scientific Journey". Annual Review of Condensed Matter Physics. 9 (1): 1–15. Bibcode:2018ARCMP...9....1S. doi:10.1146/annurev-conmatphys-033117-054029. ISSN 1947-5454.
  5. "Myriam Sarachik". www.ccny.cuny.edu. The City College of New York. Retrieved 2020-08-17.
  6. "2020 APS Medal for Exceptional Achievement in Research Awarded to Myriam P. Sarachik". www.aps.org. Retrieved 2020-08-17.
  7. Chang, Kenneth (31 August 2020). "Myriam Sarachik Never Gave Up on Physics". The New York Times.
  8. "2005 Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Physics Prize Recipient". APS Physics. American Physical Society.
  9. Simon, Ellis (19 February 2008). "CCNY Distinguished Professor Myriam P. Sarachik elected to governing council of National Academy of Sciences". CUNY Newswire. The City University of New York. Archived from the original on 5 January 2009. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
  10. "National Academy of Sciences Elects Treasurer and Councilors". Office of News and Public Information. The National Academies. 12 February 2008.
  11. "Myriam P Sarachik (nee Morgenstein)". Mathematics Genealogy Project. Department of Mathematics, North Dakota State University. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  12. "2020 APS Medal for Exceptional Achievement in Research Recipient : Myriam Sarachik". American Physical Society, 2019
  13. "Escape in World War 2". www.henryandjacqui.com. Retrieved 2020-08-17.
  15. "CCS Board Member, Myriam Sarachik, Profiled in NY Post Article". Committee of Concerned Scientists. 2019-11-20. Retrieved 2020-08-17.
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