98 national research institutions and laboratories. She raced back to the US in June from other foreign travel to make the meeting. Earlier, Rahn presented her research at international conferences in Berlin and Canada before joining fellow student delegates for lectures at the Department of Energy in Washington, D.C., and then returning to Germany. The students continued from Munich by bus to Lindau, situated on the borders of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Rahn is still processing the fiveday experience. She describes how sitting in on morning lectures led by the 17 laureates, attending and joining discussions with other promising graduate students, left her feeling humbled and grateful.
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N O B E L L AU R E AT E S
Founded by wealthy inventor Alfred Nobel (1833–1896) at his
death, the Nobel Prize was this man’s bequest to the world. Since the first award presentation on December 10, 1901, the Nobel Foundation has honored 766 Nobel Laureates and 19 organizations (excluding new Laureates this December). Of those 766 individuals, 33 were women.
Alfred Nobel’s prize, devised by a will he produced a year before his death, is said to have been prompted by a widely published report of his death. The erroneous report was memorable for grimly crediting Nobel, who held patents for dynamite and explosives, as an architect of death. After reading this, he chose to apply his fortune toward a different and redemptive legacy. The million-dollar prizes bearing Nobel’s imprimatur not only honor scientific and mathematical endeavor but also literature and peace-keeping initiatives.
The awards and process selection remain extremely quiet. All information surrounding an award is kept secret for 50 years, according to the Nobel organization’s Web site. An interesting insight into the awards process can be glimpsed by reading Walter Isaacson’s new biography of Albert Einstein. Einstein won the 1921 Nobel Prize for physics for his work on the photo-electric effect rather than for his work on gravity and relativity. Isaacson offers fascinating details as to why—and the answer may surprise you.
For further information see: www.nobelprize.org.
-------------------------UGA doctoral student Elizabeth Rahn joined a student delegation for a meeting of Nobel Laureates in Lindau, Germany on July 1-6. The delegation was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science, the National Science Foundation Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences, the National Institutes of Health’s Graduate Partnerships Program, Mars Incorporated and Oak Ridge Associated Universities. The delegates were selected based upon academic achievement.
Graduate School Magazine
WINTER 2007
19