Mildred Dresselhaus

Known as the "Queen of Carbon Science," Mildred Dresselhaus spent a career at MIT probing the electronic properties of carbon, work that helped lay scientific groundwork later researchers built on for nanotubes and graphene. She served as president of the American Physical Society, chaired the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and directed the Office of Science at the Department of Energy under President Clinton. Her honors include the National Medal of Science, the Enrico Fermi Award, the Kavli Prize and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.