Melba Phillips

Melba Newell Phillips (February 1, 1907 – November 8, 2004) was an American physicist and a pioneer science educator. One of the first doctoral students of J. Robert Oppenheimer at the University of California, Berkeley, Phillips completed her PhD in 1933, a time when few women could pursue careers in science. In 1935, Oppenheimer and Phillips published their description of the Oppenheimer–Phillips process, an early contribution to nuclear physics that explained the behavior of accelerated nuclei of radioactive hydrogen atoms. Phillips was also known for her refusal to cooperate with a U.S. Senate judiciary subcommittee's investigation on internal security during the McCarthy era which led to her dismissal from her professorship at Brooklyn College, where she was a professor of science from 1938 until 1952. (The college publicly and personally apologized to Phillips for the dismissal in 1987.)

Phillips also taught at the University of Minnesota (1941–44) and served as associate director of a teacher-training institute at Washington University in St. Louis (1957–62) before joining the faculty at the University of Chicago (1962–72) as a professor of physics. During her retirement years, Phillips was a visiting professor at Stony Brook University (1972–75) and taught at the University of Science and Technology of China, Chinese Academy of Sciences (1980) in Beijing. Phillips was a fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In addition to teaching, Phillips co-authored science textbooks and was active in the American Association of Physics Teachers. In 1981, the AAPT established the Melba Newell Phillips Medal in her honor to recognize outstanding service to the organization.

Early life and education Melba Phillips was born on February 1, 1907, near Hazleton, Gibson County, Indiana. She was the only daughter and eldest of Eilda Elizabeth (Meehan) and Virgil B. Phillips' four children.

Phillips graduated from Union High School in 1922 at the age of fifteen. Intending to become an educator, Phillips studied mathematics at Oakland City College in Indiana, where she earned a bachelor of arts degree in 1926. Afterwards, Phillips taught at her former high school for two years before entering graduate school.

Phillips earned a master's degree in physics from Battle Creek College in Michigan in 1928 and a doctorate in physics (PhD) at the University of California, Berkeley in 1933. In 1935, Oppenheimer and Phillips published their description of the Oppenheimer–Phillips process, which explained the behavior of accelerated nuclei of radioactive, "heavy hydrogen" atoms.

Career In an era when few women were working as scientists, Phillips became a leading science educator and spent the majority of her career as a professor of physics. In early 1936 the American Association of University Women announced that Philips was the recipient of its Margaret E. Maltby award, one of six women to receive its research fellowships for the 1936–37 academic year. Although Phillips appeared before a subcommittee hearing in New York and agreed to answer questions relating to her work as a scientist and physics educator, she invoked her Fifth Amendment rights when asked about other topics, including questions about whether she was a member of the Communist party. Phillips worked not only with Robert Oppenheimer on nuclear physics and the Oppenheimer–Phillips process, but also worked with the Teachers' Union. When questioned about whether she was involved with the Communist party, Phillips chose to neither confirm or deny, but to simply state that her lineage goes back just as far as any other American. In 1981 Phillips received the Karl Taylor Compton Award from the American Institute of Physics. Principles of Electrodynamics and Relativity, co-authored with P. G. Bergmann (1962) Physics History from AAPT Journals (American Association of Physics Teachers, 1985) History of Physics (Readings from Physics Today, No 2) (American Institute of Physics, 1985) History of Physics II: The Life and Times of Modern Physics (Readings from Physics Today, No 5). (American Institute of Physics, 1992)