María Yzuel facts for kids

María Josefa Yzuel Giménez (born 1940) is a famous Spanish physicist. She is a professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. She has done important work in how we see and use light, especially with medical optics and image quality. She also studied liquid crystals. She was the president of a big international group called SPIE in 2009.

A Bright Start in Science

María Yzuel was born in Jaca, Spain. She loved science and studied physics at the University of Zaragoza. She finished her first degree in 1962 and then earned her PhD in 1966. In 1987, she received a special award from the British Council. This allowed her to study at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom. She was the only woman to get this award that year, which was a big achievement! She worked with a famous scientist named Harold Hopkins.

Pioneering Work and Leadership

In 1971, María Yzuel became a professor of physics at the University of Zaragoza. She was the first woman in Spain to become a physics professor, which was a huge step forward! In 1983, she moved to the Autonomous University of Barcelona.

Yzuel continued to break barriers. In 1993, she became the first woman to lead the Spanish Optical Society. Later, in 1996, she was the secretary general of the European Optical Society.

Her research focused on different optical systems. She also worked on how information is processed using light. She helped develop special devices called spatial light modulators, which are used to control light. She retired in 2011 but still works at the Autonomous University of Barcelona as an emeritus professor. She also helps guide the International Scientific Council of the South Ural State University.

María Yzuel cares a lot about making science open to everyone. She strongly supports programs that help women scientists. She has been involved with the SPIE Women in Optics program. She also worked with the Association of Women Researchers and Technologists. She even started a special section for women in physics within the Royal Spanish Society of Physics.

Awards and Special Recognitions

María Yzuel has received many awards and honors for her amazing work. She is a Fellow of important groups like The Optical Society, the European Optical Society, and SPIE. She is also a Senior Academician of the Royal Academy of Sciences and Arts of Barcelona.

Some of her other awards include:

• 2005: SPIE Director's Award
• 2005: University of Warsaw Medal
• 2009: President of SPIE
• 2012: Honorary Doctorate from Miguel Hernández University of Elche
• 2013: Civil Order of Alfonso X, the Wise (a high honor in Spain)
• 2014: Medal of the Royal Spanish Society of Physics
• 2015: President of the Spanish Committee for the International Year of Light celebration
• 2017: Gender Equality Award from the University of Alicante (called the igUABlitat prize)
• 2017: Honorary Doctorate from the University of Granada
• 2021: SPIE President's Award

To honor her contributions, SPIE started the Maria J. Yzuel Educator Award in 2003. This award recognizes people who do great work in teaching optics. In 2018, a building at the Walqa Technology Park was named after her. In 2019, The Institute of Photonic Sciences created the Maria Yzuel Fellowship Awards. These awards help women who are studying science at university.

See also

In Spanish: María Josefa Yzuel Giménez para niños