Erna Hamburger

Erna Hamburger (14 September 1911 – 15 May 1988) was a Swiss engineer and professor. In 1957, she became professor of electrometry at the University of Lausanne. She was the first woman in the history of Switzerland to be named a professor at a STEM university.[1][2][3]

Erna Hamburger
Erna Hamburger in 1962
Born(1911-09-14)14 September 1911
Brussels, Belgium
Died15 May 1988(1988-05-15) (aged 76)
NationalitySwiss
EmployerEPFL
Known forFirst woman in Swiss history to be named professor at a STEM university
Notable workApparatus for radio-wave reception
MovementEarly leader in global feminism

Early life and education

Hamburger was born on 14 September 1911, in Brussels, Belgium to Frederick and Else Müller. She went to secondary school in Kissingen, Bavaria. She first started secondary school at an all-girls' school, and then moved on to be the only girl in her engineering classes.[4] In 1933, Hamburger received an engineering-electrician diploma from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne. Hamburger also received a doctorate in technical sciences from the same school in 1936.[2]

Career

In 1942, Hamburger was employed as an electrical engineer at Paillard SA in Sainte-Croix, Switzerland.[4] Before becoming a professor at the University of Lausanne, Hamburger was the head of work at the electrotechnical laboratory at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne.[4]

In 1957, Hamburger was appointed as the first woman in the history of Switzerland to be named professor at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne. When this occurred, the president of the school, Maurice Cosandey, announced, "It is both a brilliant consecration and a measure of the backwardness that characterizes our country as regards the promotion of women."[4]

Other positions Hamburger held include president of the Swiss Association of Women in Liberal and Commercial Careers, president of the Association of University Women of Vaud, and vice president of the International Federation of University Women.[2]

One of her major innovations was the creation of an apparatus for radio-wave reception. This research included topics such as a system of optical registration from tone frequencies and ultra-short waves.[1]

Hamburger joined the Swiss military in 1939 and was promoted to chief of the telecommunication troops in 1950.[1]

Legacy

Hamburger was an advocate for higher education.[3] Shortly after her death, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne Women in Science and Humanities Foundation was created. The primary goal of this foundation is to promote and support women in higher education. Every year, the Erna Hamburger Prize is awarded to "the most influential woman in science" that year.[5]

Laureates of the Erna Hamburger Prize[5]
Year Laureate Impact in STEM
2006 Julia Higgins Chemical engineer
2007 Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard Biologist and Nobel Prize winner
2008 Frances E. Allen Computer scientist and IBM Fellow Emerita
2009 Kazuyo Sejima Architect and Pritzker Prize winner
2010 Lisa Randall Physicist
2011 Ada Yonath Biologist and Nobel Prize winner
2012 Felicitas Pauss Physicist at ETH Zurich
2013 Julia King, Baroness Brown of Cambridge British engineer
2014 Esther Duflo Economist
2015 Jill Farrant Phytologist
2016 May-Britt Moser Psychologist and Neuroscientist, winner of 2014 Nobel Prize
2017 Mary O'Kane Australian scientist and engineer
2018 Jennifer Widom[6] Electrical engineering and computing
2019 Antje Boetius Marine Biologist and Geomicrobiology Professor
2020 Michal Lipson[7]
2021 Sarah Gilbert[8]

References
  1. Ogilvie, Marilyn Bailey; Harvey, Joy Dorothy (2000). The biographical dictionary of women in science : pioneering lives from ancient times to the mid-20th century. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0415920388. OCLC 40776839.
  2. "Hamburger, Erna". hls-dhs-dss.ch (in French). Retrieved 10 July 2019.
  3. "14 juin: inauguration de la "Salle du 1er février 1959"". www.vd.ch (in French). Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  4. "Erna Hamburger, première femme professeure au sein de l'Ecole Polytechnique de l'Université de Lausanne (EPUL)". www.unil.ch (in French). Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  5. "wishfoundation-2 | Erna Hamburger Prize". EPFL WISH Foundation-Women in Science and Humanities. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  6. Brouet, Anne-Muriel (11 January 2018). "A MOOC pioneer honored at EPFL". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. "Prof. Michal Lipson Erna Hamburger Prize Winner 2020 | Lipson Nanophotonics Group". lipson.ee.columbia.edu. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  8. "Erna Hamburger Award 2021: Prof. Sarah Gilbert". www.epflalumni.ch. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
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