Mara Prentiss

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Mara Goff Prentiss (born 1959) is an American physicist, the Lola England de Valpine Professor of Applied Mathematics, of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, and of Physics at Harvard University. After early experiments with magneto-optical traps to cool and manipulate individal atoms, her research interests have shifted to the individual manipulation of biomolecules, the self-assembly of DNA structures, and the molecular mechanics of homologous recombination. [1]

Contents

Education and career

Prentiss is originally from Cleveland, Ohio, where she was born in 1959; [2] her father worked as a carpenter. [3] She was a triple major in physics, mathematics, and philosophy at Wellesley College, graduating in 1980. She completed a Ph.D. in 1986 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, under the supervision of Shaoul Ezekiel. [2]

Next, the worked at Bell Labs from 1986 to 1991, directing the experimental development of the first magneto-optical trap. This work formed the basis of the Nobel Prize given to her coauthor Steven Chu in 1997. She joined the Harvard University faculty in 1991, initially working there on atom lithography. [2] [3] She was tenured in 1995, the second woman after Melissa Franklin to earn tenure in the Harvard Physics Department. [3] [4]

She became Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics [4] and was named a Harvard College Professor in 2023, [5] before taking her present title as Lola England de Valpine Professor of Applied Mathematics, of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, and of Physics. [1]

Book

Prentiss is the author of Energy Revolution: The Physics and the Promise of Efficient Technology (Harvard University Press, 2015). [4] [6]

Recognition

Prentiss is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, elected in 2003 after a nomination from the APS Division of Atomic, Molecular & Optical Physics, "for her pioneering work in manipulating matter with electromagnetic fields, including pioneering atom lithography and chip based atom optics". [7]

References

  1. 1 2 "Mara Prentiss", Faculty, Harvard Department of Physics, retrieved 2025-09-09
  2. 1 2 3 Keynote Speaker - Mara Prentiss, Department of Physics, Harvard University: "Manipulating Matter with Fields", Illinois Wesleyan University, April 15, 2000, retrieved 2025-09-09
  3. 1 2 3 Sawano, Nanaho (November 18, 1997), "Physics Professor Sets the Tone In Male-Dominated Profession", The Harvard Crimson , retrieved 2025-09-09
  4. 1 2 3 Kelly, Amita Parashar (Summer 2022), "Solving the Unsolvable Through Physics: Mara Prentiss '80", Wellesley Magazine, retrieved 2025-09-09
  5. ↑ O'Grady, Eileen (May 3, 2023), "5 faculty members named Harvard College Professors", The Harvard Gazette, retrieved 2025-09-09
  6. ↑ Reviews of Energy Revolution:
    • Aubrecht, Gordon (January 2016), American Journal of Physics, 84 (1): 77–78, doi:10.1119/1.4930901 {{citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)
    • Eagan, Robert (April 2015), "Review", Library Journal
    • Kiser, Barbara (February 2015), "Books in brief", Nature, 518 (7540): 481, doi:10.1038/518481a
  7. ↑ "Fellows nominated in 2003 by the Division of Atomic, Molecular & Optical Physics", APS Fellows archive, American Physical Society, retrieved 2025-09-09
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