Elda Emma Anderson, the first to prepare a sample of pure uranium-235 in the lab

October 5, 1899, Green Lake, Wisconsin (USA) - April 17, 1961, Oak Ridge, Tennessee (USA)

She always wanted to be a kindergarten teacher, but fate led her to earn a bachelor of arts degree from Ripon College in 1922 and, two years later, a master of arts degree in physics from the University of Wisconsin. For three years she taught at Estherville Junior College in Iowa, where she was dean of physics, chemistry, and mathematics.

In 1929, she became a professor of physics at Milwaukee-Downer College and succeeded in becoming head of her department in 1934.

In 1941, she completed her doctorate at the University of Wisconsin and left her position as director to work in the Office of Scientific Research and Development of the Manhattan Project at Princeton University. Shortly thereafter, she was hired to continue her work at the Los Alamos Laboratory. She studied the basic parameters of fission, including delays due to neutron absorption and emission. Among her many achievements, she prepared the first sample of pure uranium-235 in the laboratory.

She was known for working in the laboratory, often at night, for long hours, dressed in jeans and plaid shirts, an unusual outfit for women of her time. She slept in an old school and as the oldest resident (she was 50 years old), she was put in charge of it.

After the war (1947), she left Los Alamos and returned to her post at Milwaukee-Downer College. However, his interests had changed; he now wanted to research the effects of radiation on health. So, in 1949, she left teaching and began a career in the Health Physics Division of the newly created (only five years earlier) Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, becoming the first director of education and training.

She worked with Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, to create a master's degree in health physics and trained military personnel, civil servants, university professors, and many others who are now experts in this area.

He organized the first international course in his field in Stockholm in 1955 and similar courses in Belgium (1957) and India (1958). She supported the creation of the Health Physics Society in 1955, serving as president from 1959-1960.

In 1960, she created an agency for professional certification known as the American Board of Health Physics.

She was also known for helping students with both academic and personal problems.