Julia Weertman

{{Short description|American materials scientist (1926–2018)}}

{{Infobox scientist

| name = Julia Randall Weertman

| birth_date = February 10, 1926

| death_date = July 31, 2018

}}

Julia Randall Weertman (February 10, 1926 – July 31, 2018) was an American materials scientist who taught at Northwestern University as the Walter P. Murphy Professor of Materials Science and Engineering.

Education

She was the first female student of the College of Science and Engineering at the Carnegie Institute of Technology, where she earned her baccalaureate and graduate degrees.{{cite news|last1=Gerage|first1=Alex|date=August 2, 2018|title=Professor Emerita Julia Weertman Passes Away|publisher=Northwestern University|url=https://www.mccormick.northwestern.edu/news/articles/2018/08/professor-emerita-julia-weertman-passes-away.html|accessdate=August 6, 2018}}{{Cite web|last=Goldsborough|first=Bob|title=Julia Weertman, materials science professor at Northwestern who opened doors for women in the field, dies|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/obituaries/ct-met-julia-weertman-obituary-20180830-story.html|access-date=2021-09-29|website=Chicago Tribune|date=31 August 2018 }}

Weertman met her husband Johannes at Carnegie, and both later joined the Northwestern University faculty.{{cite news|title=Julia Weertman|work=EngineerGirl|publisher=National Academy of Engineering|url=https://www.engineergirl.org/2919/Julia-Weertman|accessdate=August 6, 2018}}

Career

In 1986, Julia Weertman was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship.{{cite news|title=Julia R. Weertman|publisher=John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation|url=https://www.gf.org/fellows/all-fellows/julia-r-weertman/|accessdate=August 6, 2018}} She became the first woman in the United States to lead a materials science department when she was appointed chair of Northwestern's Department of Materials Science and Engineering the next year. Weertman was granted membership into the National Academy of Engineering in 1988, "for exceptional research on failure mechanisms in high-temperature alloys."{{cite news|title=Dr. Julia R. Weertman|publisher=National Academy of Engineering|url=https://www.nae.edu/MembersSection/MemberDirectory/28279.aspx|accessdate=August 6, 2018}} In 1989, she became the first female member of the Board of Directors of The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society.{{cite web|title=TMS Historical Timeline|url=https://www.tms.org/portal/ABOUT/About_TMS/Our_History/TMS_Historical_Timeline/portal/About/About_TMS/TMS_Historical_Timeline.aspx?hkey=15539bdb-a20d-45a7-afcf-d79efb1c7027|access-date=9 April 2021|website=www.tms.org|location=Timeline 1989 Entry}}

Fellowships

She was also a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, ASM International, the American Physical Society, and the American Geophysical Union and the first female Fellow of The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society.{{cite journal|date=1 December 2018|title=Remembering Julia and Hans Weertman|journal=JOM|language=en|volume=70|issue=12|pages=2773–2774|doi=10.1007/s11837-018-3232-2|bibcode=2018JOM....70l2773.|doi-access=free}}

Death

Weertman died, aged 92, on July 31, 2018.

References