Lucia V. Streng (November 6, 1909 – April 28, 1995) was a Russian Empire-born American

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe th ...

. She spent much of her career studying the noble gases and their properties, successfully synthesizing krypton difluoride. She and her husband, Alex G. Streng, both held positions at

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...

Personal life and education

Streng was among the first women to receive a degree in mining engineering from Donetsk Mining Institute. She was born in the Russia Empire. During World War II she fled the Soviet Union with her husband and son. The family settled in West Germany for several years, then emigrated to the United States in 1950. Lucia Streng earned money painting china lamps until she and her husband found positions at

.Jaffe, Mark, "Lucia V. Streng, 85; Innovative Chemist At Temple University," Philly.com, April 30, 1995, http://articles.philly.com/1995-04-30/news/25687426_1_krypton-painting-china-chemist (accessed 24 August 2016

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Career

Lucia Streng became a research associate at the Temple University Research Institute several years after her husband, Alex G. Streng, was hired as a research chemist. She performed analytical work for the federal Bureau of Mines as well as private companies. In 1963, Streng reported the successful photochemical synthesis of krypton difluoride, a result that no one else was able to produce until 1975. Streng published a number of papers, often relating to experimental work with the noble gases

krypton Krypton (from grc, κρυπτός, translit=kryptos 'the hidden one') is a chemical element with the symbol Kr and atomic number 36. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless noble gas that occurs in trace amounts in the atmosphere and is often ...

and

xenon Xenon is a chemical element with the symbol Xe and atomic number 54. It is a dense, colorless, odorless noble gas found in Earth's atmosphere in trace amounts. Although generally unreactive, it can undergo a few chemical reactions such as the ...

. Her contributions were sometimes noted in a manner less formal than shared authorship: in the acknowledgements of one of Alex Streng's papers, he thanked Lucia and another frequent collaborator, Abraham D. Kirshenbaum, for "their contributions in the experimental work."Streng, A. G. "The Chemical Properties of Dioxygen Difluoride," ''Journal of the American Chemical Society'' Vol. 85 (1963): 1380–1385, (accessed 24 August 2016). Lucia Streng retired from the Research Institute in 1975.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Streng, Lucia V. 1909 births 1995 deaths Inorganic chemists Soviet chemists Temple University faculty Soviet emigrants to Germany German emigrants to the United States