Judith Pipher, professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Rochester, will be inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame on Oct. 6 for her excellence as a teacher of young women and men, and for the exceptional advances she’s made in the field of infrared astronomy.
Pipher is the first astronomer to be inducted to the Hall since Maria Mitchell, who was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences as the first-ever professional female astronomer, in 1848.
“Judy is a force of nature,” says William Forrest, professor of astronomy. ”She recognizes what needs to be done, and gets it done. In any such enterprise, one must inspire the whole team to perform well, and this is one of Judy’s strengths. She also has exceptional scientific judgment, and the excellent infrared detector arrays she helped develop for NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope are a testament to that judgment.”
“Because of her enormous impact on our research and working environment, Judy has become a model of how to lead a research group,” says Alice Quillen, associate professor of astronomy. ”She has been extremely supportive of my work and my role in the research group. I’ve been very lucky as Judy is constantly encouraging and supportive and without doubt a strong positive influence in my career as an astronomer.”
A 2002 recipient of the University’s Susan B. Anthony Lifetime Achievement Award, Pipher has been a member of the University of Rochester faculty since 1971, just after earning her doctorate from Cornell University in the newly emerging field of infrared astronomy.
“When I entered the field 40 years ago, roughly 12 percent of the scientists were women, and the percentage is about the same now,” says Pipher. “The good news, though, is that we are starting to see a larger percentage of women in our undergraduate classes. But we have to translate this to the next level—women getting doctorates in astronomy, too.”
Pipher was one of the first U.S. astronomers to turn an infrared array toward the skies. In 1983, Pipher and colleagues mounted a prototype infrared detector onto the telescope in a small campus observatory, taking the first-ever telescopic infrared pictures of the moon. She has since been involved in the development of near-infrared detector arrays, serving as one of the main forces moving the field from rudimentary single-pixel devices to today’s virtually flawless multi-megapixel arrays. Pipher’s work in infrared technology has had a profound influence on all subsequent work in astronomy, the study of our astronomical origins, and the study of the structure and evolution of the universe.
In 2003, NASA launched the Spitzer Space Telescope, which is equipped with infrared detectors Pipher helped design. With the telescope now in orbit, Pipher uses the instrument to investigate, among other things, clusters of forming stars and brown dwarfs, massive, planet-like objects too small to become stars, and hence too cool and dark to be seen by ground-based telescopes. Likewise, interstellar dust obscures much of the visible spectrum of light, necessitating infrared instruments in space to peer through to the object beyond.
Pipher has chaired or served on a large number of the national committees that determine the course of funding in astrophysics for NASA and the National Science Foundation.
Eight other women were named with Pipher as the newest members of the hall of fame, including Eleanor Baum, Swanee Hunt, Winona Duke, and posthumously, Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, Catherine Filene Shouse, Henrietta Szold, Martha Coffin Wright and Julia Child.
About the University of Rochester
The University of Rochester (www.rochester.edu) is one of the nation’s leading private universities. Located in Rochester, N.Y., the University gives students exceptional opportunities for interdisciplinary study and close collaboration with faculty through its unique cluster-based curriculum. Its College of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering is complemented by the Eastman School of Music, Simon School of Business, Warner School of Education, Laboratory for Laser Energetics, and Schools of Medicine and Nursing.