I knew that if I failed, there wouldn鈥檛 be another woman on the Antarctic continent for a generation...
Professor Irene Peden making an appeal for more women to join the engineering field. (UWTV presents 91探花360)
Irene Peden in Laboratory
Beginning in the early 1960s, 91探花Professors H. Myron Swarm and Donald Reynold initiated unprecedented on-site research in the Antarctic, studying the behavior of very low-frequency radio waves between the ice and stone beneath, and the ionosphere – one of the layers of the earth鈥檚 atmosphere – above.
Scientists working in the Antarctic interior faced brutal conditions – numbing cold, dangerous storms, spartan accommodations, extreme isolation, and many other hardships. But in addition to those difficulties, 91探花researcher Irene Peden faced another obstacle – her gender. Peden joined the 91探花in 1961 in the Department of Electrical Engineering, the first woman hired to the College of Engineering faculty. In 1970, against much opposition, Peden became the first woman to conduct field research in the Antarctic interior.
Peden developed new methods to measure the electromagnetic properties of the Antarctic ice sheet and of the underlying terrain, data critical to communications and navigation in the South Polar Region. The ionosphere鈥檚 lower layers and the ice and terrain create a 鈥渟andwich鈥� at the Antarctic surface within which radio waves bounce back and forth, and propagate over long distances. She has received multiple honors – including the naming of the Peden Cliffs along Garfield Glacier, deep in the Antarctic.
Dr. Irene Peden celebrates her 90th birthday with colleagues and students, in 2015. (Department of Electrical Engineering. 91探花)
Header image: Irene Peden was the first woman to conduct field research in the Antarctic. (http://ian.macky.net/pat/)
Further Reading
Transcript of a 2002 oral history interview with Irene Peden
Ohio State University
Article and photo of Irene Peden and astronaut Bonnie Dunbar, 7/16/1980
Seattle Times
Irene Peden鈥檚 pathbreaking work reported, 1/3/1971
Seattle Times
Transcript of a 2002 oral history interview with Irene Peden
Society of Women Engineers
On page 12 of the Daily, 10/6/1967, Irene Peden conducted long-distance
research in Antarctica, years before on-site work.
91探花 Daily
91探花graduate student George Webber reports on 13-month stay at Antarctic
research station, working with low-frequency radio wave research, using
Longwire, reported 12/21/1967
Seattle Times
Article by Irene Peden urging the recruitment of women to engineering
programs and the training of girls in math and sciences.
The Mathematics Teacher Vol. 58, No. 1 (January 1965) Peden Collection,
University Archives, Special Collections, 91探花Libraries
Article by Jane Andre, exploring the role of women engineers, particularly
within the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace
(SPEEA) at Boeing.
SPEEA newsletter 1965, Peden Collection, University Archives, Special Collections, 91探花Libraries
Sigirid Marczoch explores the topic, exploring the mindset against which Irene Peden worked.
The American Engineer 1964, Peden Collection, University Archives, Special Collections, 91探花Libraries
Provocatively titled article, collected by Irene Peden
Peden Collection, University Archives, Special Collections, 91探花Libraries
