Leona Woods

Leona Harriet Woods, born on August 9, 1919, was a pioneering American physicist whose contributions to nuclear science were monumental. At the young age of twenty-three, she became the youngest and only female member of the team that constructed the world's first nuclear reactor, known as Chicago Pile-1. Under the guidance of her mentor, Enrico Fermi, Woods played a crucial role in the reactor's construction and the development of Geiger counters, which were essential for experimental analysis. Notably, she was the only woman present when the reactor achieved criticality.

Woods' involvement in the Manhattan Project further solidified her reputation in the field of nuclear physics. She was instrumental in evaluating the cross-section of xenon, which had caused issues in the first Hanford production reactor. After World War II, she continued her academic journey as a fellow at Fermi's Institute for Nuclear Studies at the University of Chicago, later contributing her expertise at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and New York University, where she became a professor in nineteen sixty-two.

In nineteen sixty-six, Woods divorced her first husband, John Marshall, and married Nobel laureate Willard Libby. She then transitioned to a professorship at the University of Colorado and worked with the RAND Corporation. As her career progressed, she developed a keen interest in ecological and environmental issues, devising innovative methods to study climate change through isotope ratios in tree rings. Additionally, she became a strong advocate for food irradiation as a means to eliminate harmful bacteria.