Pakistani Female Scientist Appointed Dean of MIT School of Science

Nergis Mavalvala, a Pakistani quantum astrophysicist, has been appointed as the Dean of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) School of Science.

According to MIT News, Nergis will assume the charge of Dean from 1 September. She will succeed Michael Sipser who has been transferred to faculty as Donner Professor of Mathematics after 6 years in office.

Nergis Mavalvala named School of Science dean 👏🏻: Astrophysicist and associate head of the physics department will succeed Michael Sipser. https://t.co/ZqXQukyB6A @ScienceMIT pic.twitter.com/Q780QX3xpk

— Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (@MIT) August 17, 2020

Nergis is famous for her work in detecting gravitational waves, ripples in space and time hypothesized by Albert Einstein a century ago.

She received her early education from Convent of Jesus and Mary school in Karachi before moving to the US as a teenager.

Nergis completed her BA in Physics and Astronomy in 1990 from Wellesley College in Massachusetts and Ph.D. in Physics in 1997 from MIT.

She had also worked as a postdoctoral associate and a research scientist at the California Institute of Technology (CALTECH).

In 2010, Nergis was conferred with the prestigious MacArthur Foundation Award for her contribution to quantum Astrophysics and Astronomy.