Melissa Franklin
Encyclopedia
Melissa Franklin is an experimental particle physicist
and the Department Chair and Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics at Harvard University
. While working at the Fermi National Acceleration Laboratory
in Chicago
, her team found some of the first evidence for the existence of the top quark
. Franklin was the first woman ever to gain tenure in the Harvard Physics Department. , she is researching proton-antiproton collisions.
. She earned her physics PhD from Stanford University
in 1982 and later worked at Fermilab
in Chicago
, before coming to Harvard.
Particle physics
Particle physics is a branch of physics that studies the existence and interactions of particles that are the constituents of what is usually referred to as matter or radiation. In current understanding, particles are excitations of quantum fields and interact following their dynamics...
and the Department Chair and Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. While working at the Fermi National Acceleration Laboratory
Fermilab
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory , located just outside Batavia, Illinois, near Chicago, is a US Department of Energy national laboratory specializing in high-energy particle physics...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, her team found some of the first evidence for the existence of the top quark
Top quark
The top quark, also known as the t quark or truth quark, is an elementary particle and a fundamental constituent of matter. Like all quarks, the top quark is an elementary fermion with spin-, and experiences all four fundamental interactions: gravitation, electromagnetism, weak interactions, and...
. Franklin was the first woman ever to gain tenure in the Harvard Physics Department. , she is researching proton-antiproton collisions.
Early history
Franklin grew up in Toronto, Canada, and attended SEED School (Toronto) and the University of TorontoUniversity of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
. She earned her physics PhD from Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
in 1982 and later worked at Fermilab
Fermilab
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory , located just outside Batavia, Illinois, near Chicago, is a US Department of Energy national laboratory specializing in high-energy particle physics...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, before coming to Harvard.
External links
- Melissa Franklin's Harvard faculty webpage
- Profile on Discovering Women, a PBS series about women scientists.
- Public lecture by Prof Franklin - includes audio, slides