Irene C. Peden
| Irene Carswell Peden | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1925 (age 91–92) Topeka, Kansas |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater |
Stanford University(M.S., PhD.) University of Colorado(B.S.) Kansas City Junior College(A.S.) |
| Thesis title | Experimental investigation of transmission-line representations of microwave periodic circuits |
| Thesis year | 1962 |
| Academic work | |
| Main interests | applied electromagnetics radio science antennas subsurface remote sensing |
Irene Carswell Peden is an American engineer who has contributed much to the field of electrical engineering. She is known for being the first American woman scientist to live and work in the interior of the Antarctic, where she developed new methods to analyze the deep glacial ice by studying the effect it has on radio waves.
Born in 1925 in Topeka, Kansas, Irene was the oldest of three girls, her mother also the oldest child of four in a Swedish immigrant family. Her mother was a school teacher in math and music education. Her father was in the automobile business. She graduated from Central High School in Kansas City, Missouri. After graduating from Kansas City Junior College, Irene went on to graduate from the University of Colorado with a degree in electrical engineering in 1947. She later went to graduate school at Stanford University, where she conducted research for her doctoral dissertation in the Stanford Microwave Lab. In 1962, Irene became the first woman to earn a PhD in engineering from Stanford.
After graduating from the University of Colorado from 1947 to 1949, Irene worked as a junior engineer for Delaware Power and Light Company, and then for Aircraft Radio systems Laboratory of the Stanford Research Institute from 1949 to 1950. From 1953 to 1954, she worked as a research engineer for Midwest Research Institute.
Once she earned her doctorate degree, Irene joined the electrical engineering faculty at the University of Washington, first as an assistant to associate professor from 1961 to 1971, and then promoted to full professor in 1971. Later, she was an associate dean of engineering from 1973 to 1977, and then the associate chair of the electrical engineering department from 1983 to 1986.
In 1970, Irene became the first American woman engineer or scientist to conduct research in the Antarctic. While there, she conducted research with a grant from the Polar Upper Atmosphere Program at the National Science Foundation. Because of the significance of her work, the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (US-ACAN) named a line of cliffs near Rhodes Icefall after her scientific contributions, now called Peden Cliffs (74°57′S 136°28′W / 74.950°S 136.467°WCoordinates: 74°57′S 136°28′W / 74.950°S 136.467°W).
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