Lucy Weston Pickett facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Lucy Weston Pickett
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Lucy Weston Pickett, from the 1925 yearbook of Mount Holyoke College
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| Born | January 19, 1904 |
| Died | November 23, 1997 (aged 93) |
| Education | Mount Holyoke College (class of 1925)
University of Illinois Royal Institution, London (fellowship 1932–1933) University of Liège and Harvard Educational Foundation Fellowship (1939) |
| Employer | Professional experience: Goucher College, instructor (1927–1928)
Mount Holyoke, instructor of chemistry (1930–1935), associate professor (1940–1945), professor of chemistry (1945–1968), chair of Department of Chemistry (1954–1962) The University of California, visiting professor (1947–1948) |
| Honours | American Chemical Society, Garvan Medal, 1957; memorialized by Luck Pickett fund, Mount Holyoke (1968) |
Lucy Weston Pickett (born January 19, 1904 – died November 23, 1997) was an important American chemist. She was a professor at Mount Holyoke College.
Lucy Pickett studied how molecules are built using special tools like X-ray crystallography (which uses X-rays to see molecule shapes) and ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy (which uses light to study molecules). Her amazing work earned her many awards and was supported by big organizations like the National Science Foundation.
Contents
Early Life and Family
Lucy Pickett was born on January 19, 1904, in Beverly, Massachusetts. Her mother, Lucy Weston, was a former teacher. Her father, George Ernest Pickett, used to be a sailor.
Lucy had one brother, Thomas Austin Pickett. He also became a chemist. Lucy and Thomas had similar careers and stayed close throughout their lives.
Her Education Journey
Lucy Pickett went to high school in Beverly. In 1921, she started college at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts. She first planned to study Latin. However, she soon discovered a love for science, especially chemistry.
She decided to study both chemistry and mathematics. In 1925, Lucy graduated from Mount Holyoke with top honors. She earned her master's degree there in two years. Then, she went to the University of Illinois.
At the University of Illinois, Lucy earned her Ph.D. (a high-level degree). She focused on analytical chemistry, which is about figuring out what chemicals are in something. She also studied physical chemistry and physics. Her research looked at how X-rays affect chemical reactions. She also studied the structures of organic compounds (molecules that contain carbon).
A Career in Chemistry
After finishing her studies, Lucy Pickett taught at the University of Illinois and Goucher College. In 1930, she returned to Mount Holyoke College. She stayed there until she retired in 1968.
During her time at Mount Holyoke, Lucy took breaks to work with other famous scientists. From 1932 to 1933, she worked in London with Sir William Bragg. He was a Nobel Prize winner known for his work with X-rays. In 1939, she worked with Victor Henri in Belgium and George Kistiakowsky at Harvard.
Lucy wanted to continue her X-ray research. But she returned to Mount Holyoke to join a team studying molecules. This team included Emma Perry Carr and Mary Sherrill. They used spectroscopy, a method that uses light to study molecules. Lucy worked with Robert S. Mulliken, a Nobel Prize winner, on understanding how molecules absorb light.
Honors and Awards
Lucy Pickett received many awards for her important work:
- In 1955, she became a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
- In 1957, she received the Garvan–Olin Medal from the American Chemical Society. This award was for her research in molecular spectroscopy.
- She received honorary doctorates from Ripon College in 1958 and Mount Holyoke College in 1975.
When she retired, her friends, students, and colleagues created the Lucy Pickett Lectureship. This special lecture series brings amazing scientists to Mount Holyoke College. In the 1970s, Lucy asked that the funds be used to honor women scientists. The chemistry department still holds the Lucy W. Pickett annual lecture series today.
See also
In Spanish: Lucy Weston Pickett para niños
