Johanna Maria Henrica (Anneke) Levelt Sengers (4 March 1929 – 28 February 2024) was a Dutch physicist known for her work on critical states of fluids. She retired from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in 1994, after a 31 year career there.[2][3] In 2005 Levelt Sengers was co-chair (with Dr Manju Sharma) for the InterAcademy Council of the advisory report 'Women for Science' published June 2006. She co-chaired the InterAmerican Network of Academies of Sciences women for science program.[4]

Anneke Levelt Sengers
Born(1929-03-04)4 March 1929
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Died28 February 2024(2024-02-28) (aged 94)
NationalityDutch
Other namesJohanna Levelt Sengers
Alma materUniversity of Amsterdam
SpouseJan Vincent Sengers[1]
Childrenfour
Scientific career
FieldsPhysics
InstitutionsNIST

Education and career edit

Levelt Sengers was born on 4 March 1929[5] in Amsterdam,[6] Netherlands.[7] Her father was a chemist and her mother had studied physics. She was the eldest child and had nine siblings. During World War II her father spent time in Buchenwald concentration camp.[8]

Levelt Sengers started studying physics at the University of Amsterdam in 1947.[8] She earned her candidaats (Bachelor of Science)[9] in physics and chemistry from the University of Amsterdam in 1950, a Master of Science there in 1954 and completed her Ph.D. from the same university in 1958. Her dissertation, Measurements of the Compressibility of Argon in the Gaseous and Liquid Phase, was jointly promoted by Antonius M. J. F. Michels [nl] and Jan de Boer [nl].[10]

She emigrated to the United States in 1963 and joined the National Bureau of Standards (later renamed to NIST).[7]

Awards and honors edit

In 1990, Levelt Sengers became a corresponding member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.[11] In 1992, Delft University of Technology gave her an honorary doctorate.[12] She was a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the American Physical Society, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science,[2] and a member of the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Sciences.[13] She was the L'Oréal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science 2003 Laureate for North America,[13] and the 2006 winner of the ASME Yeram S. Touloukian Award.[14] In 2015, the IANAS Women for Science Program announced an award for young women scientists would be named the Anneke Levelt-Senger Prize (sic) in her honor.[15]

Personal life and death edit

Anneke Levelt Sengers married physicist Jan V. Sengers in 1962; their four children include computer scientist and ethnographer Phoebe Sengers.[8][16] In 1975 she and her husband became naturalized US citizens.[8]

Levelt Sengers died on 28 February 2024, a week shy of her 95th birthday.[17]

References edit

  1. ^ "Johanna Levelt Sengers Contributions Publications Honors". cwp.library.ucla.edu. CWP and Regents of the University of California. 2001. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Johanna M.H. Anneke Levelt Sengers (Scientist Emeritus)", Selected Employee Profiles, National Institute of Standards and Technology Chemical Science and Technology Laboratory, Thermophysical Properties Division, archived from the original on 4 March 2016, retrieved 29 October 2015.
  3. ^ "Johanna M.H. Levelt Sengers Curriculum Vitae". nist.gov. National Institute of Standards and Technology. 15 November 2019. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  4. ^ Women for Science, InterAmerican Network of Academies of Sciences, archived from the original on 24 October 2015, retrieved 29 October 2015.
  5. ^ Tiffany K. Wayne (2011). American Women of Science Since 1900: Essays A-H. Vol. 1. Greenwood publishing group. p. 614. ISBN 978-1-59884-158-9.
  6. ^ Sengers, Chris. "The Sengers Family Tree, Stamboom.Johanna Maria Henrica Levelt" (PDF). www.stamboomplus.com. Chris Sengers. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  7. ^ a b "20th Annual Shih-I Pai Lecture, Johanna M. H. (Anneke) Levelt Sengers, Scientist Emeritus National Institute of Standards and Technology, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2014, "Pride and Prejudice in Science and Engineering"" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 November 2014. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  8. ^ a b c d van der Heijden, Margriet (5 March 2024). "Anneke Levelt Sengers (1929–2024)" (in Dutch). NRC Handelsblad. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
  9. ^ Johanna M. Levelt-Sengers[permanent dead link] The National Institute of Standards and Technology
  10. ^ Anneke Levelt Sengers at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
  11. ^ "Johanna Levelt Sengers". Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on 30 January 2016. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  12. ^ "Eredoctoraten" (in Dutch). Delft University of Technology. Archived from the original on 5 March 2024.
  13. ^ a b "Levelt Sengers Garners L'Oréal UNESCO Award", Chemical & Engineering News, vol. 81, no. 13, American Chemical Society, p. 47, 31 March 2003.
  14. ^ "Yeram S. Touloukian Award", International Journal of Thermophysics, 9 (5): 631–633, 1988, Bibcode:1988IJT.....9..631., doi:10.1007/BF00503231, S2CID 189901752, retrieved 29 October 2015.
  15. ^ "The University of Trinidad and Tobago - School of Postgraduate Studies, Research and Development". The University of Trinidad and Tobago. 19 October 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  16. ^ "Forward thinking" (PDF). Engineering @ Maryland. University of Maryland. Fall 2003. p. 31.
  17. ^ "Obituary information for J.M.H. "Anneke" Levelt Sengers". www.devolfuneralhome.com. Retrieved 5 March 2024.