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One of Dr. Isabella Lugoski Karle's most notable achievements is the development of her "Symbolic Addition Procedure", which has become the method of choice for structure determination from X-ray diffraction data on crystalline materials. In recognition of this work she was awarded the National Medal of Science by President Clinton in 1995.
Isabella Lugoski, the daughter of Polish immigrant parents, was born on December 2, 1921 in Detroit, Michigan. Her chemistry teacher in high school was a woman who motivated Isabella to become a chemist. She progressed rapidly through school, finishing her B.S. degree in chemistry at the University of Michigan at the age of nineteen. She remained at the University of Michigan where she earned both her M.S. and Ph.D. in physical chemistry. As a graduate student, Lugoski was awarded a scholarship by the American Association of University Women that enabled her to pursue her advanced studies because at that time the University of Michigan's chemistry department did not award teaching assistantships to women. One of her chemistry professors, Dr. Lawrence O. Brockway, inspired her to pursue the study of electron diffraction by gas molecules. It was at this juncture that she also began her lifelong collaboration with Jerome Karle who was also a graduate student at the University of Michigan. Isabella was awarded her Ph.D. in physical chemistry in 1944.
Because it was so difficult for women to get hired in academia at that time, Isabella and Jerome Karle both accepted research positions at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) in Washington, DC. They worked as a team, Isabella developing the practical applications of Jerome's theories. Early on, they moved from electron diffraction work to x-ray work in crystallography. Since 1959 Isabella has been head of the NRL X-ray Diffraction Section for the Structure of Matter. In 1966 she and Jerome published their landmark paper on the Symbolic Addition Procedure for determining molecular structures of molecules directly from x-ray diffraction experiments. Isabella successfully applied this method to many important and interesting materials, many of which are important in biochemical and medical research. For example, she determined the crystal structure of the toxins isolated from frog venom, used in the study of nerve transmission and the structure of valinomycin, a cyclic polypeptide involved in the transport of potassium ions across cell membranes.
Isabella Karle was awarded the Garvan Medal in 1976 from the American Chemical Society. That same year she was president of the American Crystallographic Association. In 1985 she was awarded the Chemical Pioneer Award by the American Institute of Chemists. She has more than 200 publications and been awarded four honorary doctorate degrees, three in science and one in humane letters. In addition Isabella Karle serves on the editorial boards of professional journals and various science advisory boards.
Isabella Lugoski and Jerome Karle were married in 1942. They have three daughters.
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