Prof. Marcia C Barbosa is a brazilian physicist. Marcia was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, did her high school at Colégio Marechal Rondon in Canoas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, undergraduate and graduate studies at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil. After getting her pHD she spent two years as a posdoc at the research group of prof. Michael Fisher at the University of Maryland. Back in Brazil she got a permanent position at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul where she is working until today. She is a researcher with publications, thesis advised and organization of schools and international conferences. In 1998 she became involved with the gender issue in physics. She worked as chair of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics Working Group on Women in Physics. This group organized a number of conferences on women in physics. She also served as jury of the Unesco/Loreal prize for Women in Physics. In 2008 she became vice-president of the Union of Pure and Applied Physics and director of the Instituto de Física da UFRGS. For her activities on gender issues she was awarded with the 2009 Nicholson Medal given by the American Physical Society.