Jenny Rosenthal Bramley
Born(1909-07-31)July 31, 1909
Moscow, Russia
DiedMay 26, 1997(1997-05-26) (aged 87)
Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States
NationalityRussian
Known forFirst woman to earn Ph.D in physics from an American institution
Scientific career
FieldsPhysics

Jenny Rosenthal Bramley (July 31, 1909 – May 26, 1997) was a Russian-born American physicist. She held numerous patents on electroluminescence and electro-optics, and was cited by the IEEE as being "well known for her innovative work in lasers."[1] She was the second woman elected as a fellow of the IEEE.[2]

Personal life

Bramley was born Jenny Rosenthal in Moscow on July 31, 1909.[1] Her parents were Lithuanian, and she and her family left Russia as part of a hostage exchange between Lithuania and the Soviet Union. She attended high school in Berlin and earned her bachelor's degree from the University of Paris in 1926 at age 16.[3][4]

She spoke English, Russian, French, and German, and she used her language skills many times at professional meetings and to translate technical articles.[1]

Bramley received both a master's degree in 1927 and a doctorate in 1929 at age 19 from New York University (NYU).[3] University officials at NYU claim she became the first woman to receive a Ph.D. in physics from an American institution.[4] However, three women (Mary Chilton Noyes, Caroline Willard Baldwin, and Isabelle Stone) were awarded doctorates in physics from American institutions in the nineteenth century,[5] and evidence suggests at least 26 women earned doctorates in physics before 1929.[4][6]

Bramley met her husband, Arthur Bramley, while working as a physicist at the United States Army Signal Corps Engineering Laboratory in Belmar, NJ. She died on May 26, 1997, at age 87 in Lancaster, PA,[7] and was survived by a daughter, son, eleven grandchildren, and one great-granddaughter.[4] She was proceeded in death by her husband and one son.

Career

After graduating from New York University Bramley did research at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Michigan before teaching at Brooklyn College and New York University.[8]

Along with Gregory Breit, Bramley was the first to calculate the effect of extended nuclear charge on hyperfine structure and isotopic shift – an effect still known as the Breit–Rosenthal correction.[9] She contributed to a number of other fields including applying electroluminescence to solid state displays and storage devices and developing high efficiency lasers. Bramley also invented coding techniques and methods of decoding pictorial information, later used in classified studies.[10]

During World War II Bramley conducted some research in secret which she was unable to publish at the time.[11] In the 1950s she worked at Monmouth Junior College, where she served as head of the mathematics department.[12]

Honors and awards

Legacy

In 1997, New York University named a physics laboratory in honor of Bramley.[15][16]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Dr. Jenny Rosenthal Bramley". CECOM Historical Office. U.S. Army Live Blog. Archived from the original on 2 March 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  2. ↑ "Jenny Rosenthal Bramley – GHN: IEEE Global History Network". Ieeeghn.org. Retrieved 2014-02-17.
  3. 1 2 "Careers in Technology Open to Women, Says Dr. Bramley". The Herald-News. Passaic, NJ. May 13, 1957. p. 18. Retrieved October 19, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Jenny Bramley, 87, Physicist and Inventor". New York Times. 2 June 1997. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  5. ↑ Eells, Walter Crosby (1956). "Earned Doctorates for Women in the Nineteenth Century". AAUP Bulletin. 42 (4): 644–651. doi:10.2307/40222081. ISSN 0001-026X. JSTOR 40222081.
  6. ↑ "IEEE Northern Virginia Section | 1977-78 Past Chair". 2014-02-03. Archived from the original on 2014-02-03. Retrieved 2022-03-09.
  7. ↑ "Bramley". Lancaster New Era. Lancaster, PA. May 28, 1997. p. 12. Retrieved October 18, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  8. ↑ "Bramley was first woman to receive Ph.D in physics". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. June 3, 1997. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  9. ↑ Stroke, Henry (2005). Advances in Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics, Volume 51. Gulf Professional Publishing. pp. 275–276. ISBN 0-08-045608-1. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  10. ↑ Commire, Anne; Klezmer, Deborah; Gale Editorial Collaboration, eds. (2005). Dictionary of Women Worldwide. Cengage Gale (via HighBeam). ISBN 0-7876-7585-7. Archived from the original on 2016-12-20. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  11. ↑ "AAUW Journal, Volumes 36-37". American Association of University Women. 36–37. 1942. Retrieved June 17, 2014. My work is secret in nature. After the war I hope to be able to publish some of it.
  12. ↑ Gabriele Kass-Simon; Patricia Farnes; Deborah Nash (1993). Women of Science: Righting the Record. Indiana University Press. p. 180. ISBN 0-253-20813-0. Retrieved 17 June 2014. Jenny Rosenthal Bramley.
  13. ↑ "APS Fellow Archive". American Physical Society. (search on year=1936 and institution=Columbia University)
  14. ↑ "Social News from Nutley". The Herald-News. Passaic, NJ. April 12, 1966. p. 7. Retrieved October 19, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  15. ↑ Brubaker, Jack (October 14, 1997). "Telephone Directory Features More Lawyers and Yellow Pages than Ever". Lancaster New Era. Lancaster, PA. p. 12. Retrieved October 18, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  16. ↑ "Jenny Rosenthal Bramley". NYU Department of Physics. Retrieved October 18, 2023.
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