| Intro | American astrophysicist |
| Was |
Scientist Physicist Astronomer Astrophysicist |
| From | United States of America |
| Type | Science |
| Gender | female |
| Birth | 1 January 1921 |
| Death |
1 January 1992 (aged 71 years) |
Phyllis S. Freier (1921–1992) was an American astrophysicist and a Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science and a Fellow, American Physical Society. As a graduate student she presented evidence for the existence of elements heavier than helium in cosmic radiation. Her work was published in Physical Review in 1948 with co-authors Edward J. Lofgren, Edward P. Ney, and Frank Oppenheimer.
Education and career
At the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis she received her B.S. in 1942, her M.A. in 1944, and finally her Ph.D. in 1950. From 1944 to 1945 she was employed as a physicist at the Naval Ordnance Laboratory. Then for the next twenty years, from 1950 to 1970, she was a Research Associate, at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. She stayed at that university and from 1970 to 1975 she was an Associate Professor, and from 1975-1992 she was a Professor of Physics.
In addition to her contribution as graduate student, mentioned above, she also published other significant contributions in the fields of particle physics, geophysics, and astrophysics that covered nuclear emission spectra, cosmic rays, and applying nuclear emulsions.