Ursula Franklin

Ursula Martius Franklin, CC, O.Ont, Ph.D, FRSC (born September 16, 1921 in Munich, Germany) is a German-Canadian metallurgist and research physicist. She is a Quaker and is a Member of Toronto Monthly Meeting. She has also been active in promoting pacifist and feminist causes.

Additional recommended knowledge

Don't let static charges disrupt your weighing accuracy

Daily Sensitivity Test

Weighing the right way

Franklin began her career during World War II, but was imprisoned in a Nazi work camp because her mother was Jewish. She spent the rest of the war repairing bombed buildings.

She received her Ph.D. in experimental physics at the Technical University of Berlin in 1948, and emigrated to Canada the following year. In Canada, she worked for 15 years at the Ontario Research Foundation.

Franklin was a pioneer in the field of archaeometry, which applies modern materials analysis to archaeology. In the early 1960s, she investigated levels of strontium 90 -- a radioactive isotope in fallout from nuclear weapons testing -- in children's teeth. Her research was instrumental in the cessation of atmospheric weapons testing.

In 1967, Franklin joined the University of Toronto's Department of Metallurgy and Materials Science. In 1984 she became the first woman at the school to be named University Professor, a special title which is the highest honour given by the university.

Franklin continues to be actively involved in numerous humanitarian activities such as encouraging young women to pursue careers in science, promoting peace and social justice, and speaking and writing on the social impacts of science and technology.

She is a companion of the Order of Canada, Ph.D, and is the recipient of the 2001 Pearson Medal of Peace for her work in human rights. She also has a Toronto high school named after her, Ursula Franklin Academy. She has a strong association with Massey College in the University of Toronto, where she is a Senior Fellow and was honoured in 2004 as one of the first Clarkson Laureateships, which recognizes outstanding achievement in public service.