Anne Kernan
Born15 January 1933
Dublin, Ireland
Died11 May 2020
Panama City Beach, Florida

Anne Kernan (15 January 1933 – 11 May 2020) was an Irish particle physicist.

Early life and education

Kernan was born in 1933 to Annie Connor and Frederick Kernan in Glasnevin. She was the second of four children including Denis, Gerard, and Una. Kernan was educated in the Dominican College on Eccles St, because they had a class in physics. She went on to study physics at University College Dublin graduating with first-class honours in 1952. Kernan was the only woman in the class. After graduation Kernan went on to complete her PhD in physics in her alma mater in 1957. Kernan worked there as a lecturer for four years. She also worked in the University of Rochester.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Kernan won a post-doctoral scholarship at the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory at the University of California at Berkeley. Her next role was at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. Finally in 1967, she joined the Department of Physics at the University of California, Riverside. She went on to become chair of the physics department, vice chancellor for research and dean of the graduate division. In each case Kernan was the first woman in all these roles.[1][2][7][8][6]

Career

In 1983, Kernan worked with Professor Carlo Rubbia and Dr Simon van der Meer. She led the US team on the CERN international Nobel-prize winning experiment to discover the two sub-atomic particles, W and Z bosons. Kernan was invited to the Nobel Prize ceremony in Stockholm. Kernan was part of the team that went on to discover the top quark in 1995. She had been working as part of the DZero experiment at the Tevatron collider at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory near Chicago since 1986.[1][2][6]

Kernan was a fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She was a supporter of women in STEM. She was a member of the American Physics Society committee on the status of women in physics.[1][2][9][6]

When Kernan retired she moved to Danvers, Massachusetts to live with her sister and then to Panama City Beach in Florida where she died in 2020.[1][2][4]

References and sources

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Anne Kernan obituary: trailblazing Irish physicist". The Irish Times. 21 March 2013. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "The Irish 'research lady' who helped win the Nobel". The Irish Times. 21 March 2013. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  3. ↑ "University College, Dublin". University Review. 1 (3): 93–96. 1954. JSTOR 25504291.
  4. 1 2 "Anne Kernan Obituary - Panama City, FL". Panama City News Herald. 15 May 2020. Archived from the original on 15 July 2020. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  5. ↑ "75 Reasons to Become a Scientist". American Scientist. 6 February 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Graduate Awards". Department of Physics & Astronomy. 3 September 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  7. ↑ "Academic Work in 1950s". Science and National Identity. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  8. ↑ "Search & Browse". UCR Profiles. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  9. ↑ "Natalie Roe: How an Early Boost Made a Big Difference". Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accountability. 19 May 2014. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
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