Pauline Morrow Austin facts for kids

Pauline "Polly" Morrow Austin (born December 18, 1916 – died August 29, 2011) was an American scientist. She was a physicist and a meteorologist, which means she studied weather. She is famous for her important work with weather radar.

Early Life and Education

Pauline Morrow Austin was born in 1916 in Kingsville, Texas. She grew up in Mexico. Her parents were missionaries who taught others, so Pauline was homeschooled for most of her childhood. She did attend high school for two years in Atlanta, Georgia.

College and Advanced Degrees

Pauline earned her first college degree, a Bachelor of Arts (BA), in mathematics from Wilson College in 1938. She then went on to get a Master of Arts (MA) from Smith College in 1939. In 1942, she earned her highest degree, a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Physics, from the MIT.

At MIT, Pauline was a student of Julius Adams Stratton. He was an electrical engineer who later became the president of MIT. Her PhD research was about how electromagnetic waves travel through Earth's atmosphere. This knowledge was very useful for understanding radar.

Her Career in Science

Pauline Austin started her career at the MIT Radiation Laboratory. This was during World War II. She helped create important technologies like Long Range Navigation (LORAN) and radar. These tools were vital for the war effort.

In 1942, The New York Times newspaper praised her. They featured her as one of nine women making big contributions to science and technology during the war. Her work helped apply radar technology to study weather. This was a brand new idea at the time.

Developing Weather Radar

In 1946, Pauline joined the new MIT Weather Radar Project. She was the expert on how electromagnetic waves work. She compared radar echoes to how much rain was falling. This helped scientists use radar better to predict weather patterns.

In 1947, she became a founding member of the American Meteorological Society's Committee on Radar Meteorology. She was the only woman on this committee. From 1956 to 1980, she led the Weather Radar Project. During this time, she taught students about radar meteorology. She also guided graduate students at MIT.

Her research mainly focused on measuring rain with radar. In 1974, her project used a special radar on a ship. This ship measured rainfall over the tropical ocean. It was part of a big science project called the Global Atmospheric Research Program's Atlantic Tropical Experiment (GATE).

Teaching at Wellesley College

Besides her work at MIT, Pauline Austin also taught. She was a lecturer at Wellesley College from 1953 to 1955.

Personal Life

Pauline met James Murdoch Austin when they were both graduate students at MIT. They got married in 1941. They both stayed at MIT for their careers. James became a professor of meteorology and was one of the first people to forecast weather on television.

Pauline worked with her husband on some of the first TV weather reports. They included radar observations in these reports. They had two daughters together. Their names are Doris A. Price and Carol T. West.

After her husband passed away in 2000, Pauline moved to Gainesville, Florida. She wanted to be closer to one of her daughters. Throughout her life, Pauline loved playing golf. In her later years, she volunteered at the Florida Museum of Natural History.

Legacy and Recognition

Pauline Austin's important work is still remembered. In 2016, MIT honored her with an exhibit. It was displayed in the Green Building at MIT. In 2017, MIT also made a video about her life. The video highlighted her career as one of the first women to earn a PhD in physics from MIT.