Deborah remembering Millie

Deborah D.L. Chung

State University of New York (Buffalo) Distinguished Professor

Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Professor Mildred S. Dresselhaus (1930-2017) was fondly known to her students, colleagues and friends as Millie. I am fortunate to have Millie as my Ph.D. thesis advisor in Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1973-1977.

My thesis was on graphite intercalation compounds and I graduated in 1977. I was Millie’s first graduate student in this research area. She and I entered the area together. At the very start of the research, we studied review papers. I was also Millie’s first female Ph.D. thesis student. Many years later, when nanoscience became popular, Millie told me that her research with me was historic in that it marked her start in nanoscience research. Nanoscience turned out to the field of her most significant impact, as shown by her receiving the Kavli Prize in Nanoscience in 2012.

Millie was a great teacher, both in courses and research training. It was her wonderful graduate course on solid state physics that led me to decide to have her as my thesis advisor. I just fell in love with the beauty of the physics that she taught. Her lecture notes are clear and well organized. She also provided me with broad research training that involved a number of experimental methods. She also gave me a degree of freedom in directing my research. The breadth and freedom helped me greatly in entering new fields during my subsequent decades of research.

The first experiment that Millie asked me to do was the use of magnetoreflection to study the electronic structure of graphite intercalation compounds. The experiment required high magnetic field, low (liquid-helium) temperature, far-infrared optics and electronics. It was challenging to me. Millie noticed my difficulty and said to me, “We’ll be patient with you.”

Millie was also a wonderful role model, particularly for women. She worked very hard and had little time for shopping for clothing. While being dedicated to science, she was a caring mother of four. Her work in the family did not diminish her research. Furthermore, she kept up with her violin playing till the end. I had the privilege of playing the piano in her home while her sons played the violin and cello.

I am most impressed with Millie’s graciousness. Her words are always encouraging. Although she came into the lab very early (e.g., 6 am), she never asked or hinted at her graduate students to do the same. She called her work before 9 am her first shift.

No harsh word ever came out from Millie, even after my damaging a dewar during liquid helium transfer in the magnetoreflection experiment mentioned above. She understood the physical challenge of the work, which required muscles to lift the big heavy dewar.

Millie was also gracious in having her students in her home for dinner. She cooked and washed the dishes. Knowing my Chinese origin, she cooked rice when I went to her home for dinner.

Due to our common interest in carbon research, we attended Carbon Conferences through the decades. Although my research has departed from her focus on the electronic structure of carbon materials, I have remained active in carbon research, with work including the invention of smart concrete, which contains short carbon fiber. It may be hard to believe that a former student of Professor Dresselhaus invented smart concrete! This attests to the effectiveness of the education that she provided.