Anneke Levelt Sengers
Anneke Levelt Sengers | |
|---|---|
| Born | Template:Birth date Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Died | February 28, 2024 (aged 94) |
| Occupation | Physicist |
| Years active | 1947–1994 |
| Known for | Contributions to fluid critical phenomena; advocacy for women in science |
Johanna Maria Henrica (Anneke) Levelt Sengers (4 March 1929 – 28 February 2024) was a distinguished Dutch physicist known for her contributions to the study of fluid critical phenomena. She concluded her career at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in 1994, after serving there for 31 years. In 2005, Levelt Sengers co-led the InterAcademy Council's advisory report titled Women for Science and directed the InterAmerican Network of Academies of Sciences initiative focused on advancing women in scientific disciplines, advocating for gender equity within the sciences.
Education and career
Born on 4 March 1929 in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Levelt Sengers was the eldest among ten siblings. Her father practiced chemistry, while her mother pursued studies in physics. During the Second World War, her father was detained at the Buchenwald concentration camp.
She commenced her physics education at the University of Amsterdam in 1947 and completed a Bachelor of Science degree in physics and chemistry by 1950. She continued to obtain a Master of Science in 1954 and earned her doctorate in 1958. Her Ph.D. thesis, entitled Measurements of the Compressibility of Argon in the Gaseous and Liquid Phase, was supervised by Antonius M. J. F. Michels and Jan de Boer.
In 1963, she relocated to the United States and became part of the National Bureau of Standards, which later became known as NIST.
Awards and honors
Levelt Sengers was inducted as a corresponding member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1990. In recognition of her achievements, Delft University of Technology granted her an honorary doctorate in 1992. She held fellowships with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, American Physical Society, and American Association for the Advancement of Science, along with membership in both the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Sciences.
Her accolades include receiving the L'Oréal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science for North America in 2003 and being honored with the ASME Yeram S. Touloukian Award in 2006. The IANAS Women for Science Program established the Anneke Levelt-Senger Prize in 2015 to recognize outstanding young female scientists.
Personal life and death
In 1962, Anneke Levelt Sengers married fellow physicist Jan V. Sengers. Together they had four children, including computer scientist and ethnographer Phoebe Sengers. The couple became naturalized citizens of the United States in 1975.
Levelt Sengers passed away on 28 February 2024, just days before reaching her 95th birthday.