Katharine Blodgett Gebbie

Katharine Blodgett Gebbie
Katharine Blodgett Gebbie (1932–2016).
Born
Katharine Blodgett

(1932-07-04)July 4, 1932
DiedAugust 17, 2016(2016-08-17) (aged 84)
NationalityAmerican
Alma materBryn Mawr College
University College London
Known forDirectorship of the Physics Laboratory and the Physical Measurement Laboratory of the National Institute of Standards and Technology
AwardsDistinguished Executive Presidential Rank Award, Department of Commerce Gold Medal (twice), Service to America Medal
Scientific career
FieldsAstrophysics
InstitutionsUniversity of Colorado Boulder
National Bureau of Standards
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Doctoral advisorProf. Michael J. Seaton, FRS

Katharine Blodgett Gebbie (July 4, 1932 August 17, 2016) was an American astrophysicist and civil servant. She was the founding director of the Physical Measurement Laboratory of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and of its two immediate predecessors, the Physics Laboratory and the Center for Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, both for which she was the only Director. During her 22 years of management of these institutions, four of its scientists were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics. In 2015, the NIST Katharine Blodgett Gebbie Laboratory Building in Boulder, Colorado was named in her honor.