Helen Quinn

Happy Birthday Helen Quinn! The particle physicist was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1943. She studied meteorology at the University of Melbourne before moving to Stanford University to study physics. She obtained her PhD in 1967, when barely 1 in 50 physics doctoral students in the US were women. After studying in Germany and teaching high school in Boston, Quinn joined Harvard University. In 1974 Quinn and two colleagues described how three seemingly disparate forces—the strong, electromagnetic, and weak interactions—could have emerged from a unified force during the universe’s infancy. Quinn then moved to the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center and worked with Roberto Peccei to solve a problem related to the strong force. Their 1977 paper not only resolved the issue but also predicted the existence of a new particle called the axion. Multiple experiments are in search of the axion, which may help explain the mysterious dark matter that pervades the universe. Lately Quinn has dedicated her time to science education. She contributed to the Next Generation Science Standards that aim to change the way K–12 students are taught the sciences.

Date in History: 19 May 1943