Doris Kuhlmann-Wilsdorf (February 15, 1922 – March 25, 2010) was a German

metallurgist Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the sc ...

Biography

Doris Kuhlmann-Wilsdorf was born in Bremen,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

on February 15, 1922, to Adolph Friedrich and Elsa Kuhlmann. She attended the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...

from 1942 where she received her doctorate in materials science in 1947. Kuhlmann-Wilsdorf continued her research under Sir Nevill Francis Mott at the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

. She married Heinz Wilsdorf in 1950, with whom she travelled to

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( or ). The university ...

to work as a lecturer in the same year. In 1956 they moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

to work at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

as professors in the Physics and Materials Science departments. She was named university professor of applied science in 1966; she was the first woman named as a full professor at the University of Virginia outside the schools of Medicine and Nursing. In 1994 Kuhlmann-Wilsdorf and her husband funded a professorship in their name and former students created a memorial building on the campus in their name in 2001. Kuhlmann-Wilsdorf retired in 2005 and died after a short illness on March 25, 2010, in Charlottesville, Virginia. He
papers
are held at the

Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library The Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia is a research library that specializes in American history and literature, history of Virginia and the southeastern United States, the history of the Universit ...

at the

Research

Kuhlmann-Wilsdorf published over 250 papers and has been a consultant to a number of corporations. Her research was primarily in metallurgy and materials science (with her expertise in

tribology Tribology is the science and engineering of interacting surfaces in relative motion. It includes the study and application of the principles of friction, lubrication and wear. Tribology is highly interdisciplinary, drawing on many academic f ...

), known for her design of electrical metalfiber brushes used as sliding electrical contacts. She was a fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Society of Metals.

Honors and awards

*Medal for Excellence in Research of the American Society of Engineering Education (1965 and 1966) * Heyn Medal of the German Society of Materials Science (1988) *Society of Women Engineers Achievement Award (1989) *Ragnar Holm Scientific Achievement Award of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (1991) *Christopher J. Henderson Inventor of the Year (2001) *Fellow of TMS- AIME (2006)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuhlmann-Wilsdorf, Doris American materials scientists German materials scientists Tribologists 1922 births 2010 deaths German women physicists American women physicists German women scientists University of Göttingen alumni University of Virginia faculty Fellows of the American Physical Society 20th-century American physicists 20th-century American women scientists American women academics German emigrants to the United States Fellows of the Minerals, Metals & Materials Society 21st-century American women