Sonja Krause Goodwin (1933–2021) was a Swiss-American

physical chemist Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic and microscopic phenomena in chemical systems in terms of the principles, practices, and concepts of physics such as motion, energy, force, time, thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, statistical mecha ...

specializing in the

thermodynamics Thermodynamics is a branch of physics that deals with heat, Work (thermodynamics), work, and temperature, and their relation to energy, entropy, and the physical properties of matter and radiation. The behavior of these quantities is governed b ...

and effects of

electric field An electric field (sometimes called E-field) is a field (physics), physical field that surrounds electrically charged particles such as electrons. In classical electromagnetism, the electric field of a single charge (or group of charges) descri ...

s on

polymer A polymer () is a chemical substance, substance or material that consists of very large molecules, or macromolecules, that are constituted by many repeat unit, repeating subunits derived from one or more species of monomers. Due to their br ...

solutions, and also interested in climate history.

Education and career

Krause was born in 1933 in St. Gallen, Switzerland. When she was a child, she left Europe with her parents to escape

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

, emigrating to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, where her parents sold German-language books. She went to the

Bronx High School of Science The Bronx High School of Science is a State school, public Specialized high schools in New York City, specialized high school in the Bronx in New York City. It is operated by the New York City Department of Education. Admission to Bronx Science ...

, as one of the first women to attend that school, and graduated from the

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (; RPI) is a private university, private research university in Troy, New York, United States. It is the oldest technological university in the English-speaking world and the Western Hemisphere. It was establishe ...

in 1954. She completed a Ph.D. in 1958 at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, with the dissertation ''Electric Birefringence Studies of Some Macromolecular Solutions Using Microsecond Transients''. After working in industry at the Rohm & Haas Company,As listed in publications and patents from the time she spent several years in the mid-1960s in the

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an Independent agency of the U.S. government, independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to communities in partner countries around the world. It was established in Marc ...

heading the physics department at the

University of Lagos The University of Lagos (UNILAG) is a Public university, public research university located in Lagos, Nigeria, which was founded in 1962. UNILAG is one of the education in Nigeria#First generation universities, first generation universities in ...

in Nigeria, and later in Ethiopia. She returned to Rensselaer as a faculty member in physical chemistry in 1967, and was named full professor in 1978. She retired in 2004.

Books

Krause was a coauthor of the textbook ''Chemistry of the Environment'' (1978; 2nd ed., 2002, Harcourt/Academic Press, with R. A. Bailey, H. M. Clark, J. P. Ferris, and R. L. Strong). She also published her experiences in the Peace Corps as the two-book series ''My Years in the Early Peace Corps: Nigeria, 1964–1965'' and ''My Years in the Early Peace Corps: Ethiopia, 1965–1966'' (Hamilton Books, 2021).

Recognition

Krause was named a

Fellow of the American Physical Society The American Physical Society honors members with the designation ''Fellow'' for having made significant accomplishments to the field of physics. The following lists are divided chronologically by the year of designation. * List of fellows of the ...

(APS), after a nomination from the APS Division of Polymer Physics, in 1976. She was also a Fellow of the

International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC ) is an international federation of National Adhering Organizations working for the advancement of the chemical sciences, especially by developing nomenclature and terminology. It is ...

References

External links

Home page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Krause, Sonja 1933 births 2021 deaths American physical chemists American women chemists Polymer scientists and engineers Women physical chemists Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute alumni Academic staff of the University of Lagos Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute faculty Fellows of the American Physical Society 21st-century American women Swiss emigrants to the United States People from St. Gallen (city)