Mildred Dresselhaus

Dr. Mildred (Millie) Dresselhaus was known as the “Queen of Carbon” for her research to understand that element on a molecular level. This chapter describes the various types of carbon. Dr. Dresselhaus spent most of her career on the faculty of MIT, where she was named a University Professor, an honor given to only the very best educators and researchers. Her work led to nanomaterials able to harvest and convert waste heat to electricity more efficiently than conventional materials and laid the theoretical foundation of lithium-ion batteries. Dr. Dresselhaus’s invention took advantage of the different scales involved in the flow of electrons and the flow of heat, managing to obstruct heat flow while leaving electrical flow unchanged.