Emma Victoria Pérez Ferreira (2 April 1925 – 28 June 2005) was an Argentine physicist who contributed immensely to the advancement of science in Argentina. She was the first female president of the country's

National Atomic Energy Commission The National Atomic Energy Commission (, CNEA) is the Argentine government agency in charge of nuclear energy research and development. The agency was created on 31 May 1950, with the mission of developing and controlling nuclear energy for pea ...

(CNEA).

Life and work

Pérez Ferreira was born in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

on 2 April 1925 and studied Physico-Mathematical Sciences at the

University of Buenos Aires The University of Buenos Aires (, UBA) is a public university, public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is the second-oldest university in the country, and the largest university of the country by enrollment. Established in 1821 ...

(UBA), earning her bachelor's degree in 1952 and becoming a teacher at the university's Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences. She received her doctorate in Physics from UBA in 1960 with her dissertation titled, ''The production of pions by pions at energies of around 1 Bev.'' She then took postgraduate courses at the

University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charter in 1837. It was the first recognised university to ...

in England and

University of Bologna The University of Bologna (, abbreviated Unibo) is a Public university, public research university in Bologna, Italy. Teaching began around 1088, with the university becoming organised as guilds of students () by the late 12th century. It is the ...

in Italy, receiving a scholarship from the National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA). She was one of the first scientists at this institution and held positions of high responsibility, initially dedicating herself to scientific research in high energy nuclear physics. She served as head of the Department of Nuclear Physics for ten years and then Director of research and development. In 1976, she was appointed head of the project called TANDAR (for TANDem ARgentino), to build a 20 MeV tandem-type accelerator for heavy ions. From 1985 to 1989, she was a member of the Council for the Consolidation of Democracy created by President

Raúl Alfonsín Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín (; 12 March 1927 – 31 March 2009) was an Argentine lawyer and statesman who served as President of Argentina from 10 December 1983 to 8 July 1989. He was the first democratically elected president after the 7-yea ...

. In the period from 1987 to 1989 she was president of the country's National Atomic Energy Commission. In 1990 she began serving as director of the RETINA (Red Teleinformática Académica or Academic Teleinformatics Network) project, an academic network developed before commercial Internet networks existed, to link computers between universities and facilitate communications among them. When the speed of this network was no longer sufficient, she participated in the implementation of advanced academic networks to integrate Argentina into the newer Internet, which at that time was an advanced North American academic network that allowed large volumes of data to be transferred at higher speeds. In December 2001, Argentina was integrated under a program known as RETINA2. At the Konex 2003 Science and Technology Awards, Pérez Ferreira received a special mention for her role in Argentine science and technology. At the Constituent Atomic Center of the National Atomic Energy Commission, a public space is named after her: the Emma Pérez Ferreira Auditorium. She died at the age of 80 in Buenos Aires on 28 June 2005.

Bibliography

* Pérez Ferreira E. & Waloscheck P. J. (1956). ''Medición de intensidades totales de neutrones rápidos con placas nucleares y su aplicación a la determinación de la distribución angular de los neutrones de la reacción li (d. n)''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perez Ferreira, Emma 1925 births 2005 deaths Argentine physicists University of Buenos Aires alumni 20th-century Argentine physicists 20th-century Argentine women scientists 20th-century women physicists Particle physicists