Role Physicist | Name Helen Edwards | |
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Institutions Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory Notable awards E. O. Lawrence Award (1986)MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, National Medal of Technology Awards MacArthur Fellowship, National Medal of Technology and Innovation | ||
Helen Thom Edwards (May 27, 1936 – June 21, 2016) was an American physicist. She was the lead scientist for the design and construction of the Tevatron at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory.
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Education
Edwards earned a bachelor's degree in physics from Cornell University. After her undergraduate work, she continued studying at Cornell University, where she earned her M.S. degree in the physics department under Kenneth Greisen working with the development of electromagnetic showers. Edwards eventually earned her PhD from Cornell in 1966, working under the direction of Boyce McDaniel in the Laboratory of Nuclear Studies.
Positions
After earning her PhD at Cornell in 1966, Edwards continued her work in Nuclear Studies at Cornell as a research associate at the 10 GEV Electron Synchrotron under the supervision of Robert R. Wilson. Edwards then joined Wilson when he transitioned to Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in 1970.
When she first began her work at Fermilab, she was put in charge of the accelerator division. In her most well-known work, she oversaw the building of the Tevatron, one of the highest energy super-conducting particle accelerators ever constructed. Her work was supervised by Leon M. Lederman.