Claudine Hermann

Claudine Hermann
Hermann in 2013
Born
Claudine Rodrigues

(1945-12-19)December 19, 1945
DiedJuly 17, 2021(2021-07-17) (aged 75)
Alma materÉcole normale supérieure de jeunes filles
Scientific career
FieldsSolid state physics
WorkplacesÉcole Polytechnique
ThesisPompage optique dans l'antimoniure de gallium : détection optique de la résonance électronique (1976)

Claudine Hermann (née Rodrigues, 19 December 1945 – 17 July 2021) was a French physicist and honorary professor at École Polytechnique, the grande école founded in 1794 and located in Palaiseau, France. In 1992 she became the first woman to serve there as a professor. As a researcher, she has specialized in solid-state physics. She has also served as president of the European Platform of Women Scientists and in 2000 was one of several women who founded Femmes et Sciences. In early 2025, that organization proposed 72 names of women in science to be added to the sides of the Eiffel Tower, including Hermann herself.

Biography

Early life and education

Claudine Rodrigues was the daughter of a pharmacist. She studied at the École normale supérieure de jeunes filles and graduated in 1965. In 1969, she passed the competitive agrégation examination in physics. The same year she married Jean-Paul Hermann whose career was similar to her own. By 1980, they had three children together.[1][2][3][4]

She completed her doctoral studies at Paris Diderot University in 1976, with a thesis titled "Pompage optique dans l'antimoniure de gallium : détection optique de la résonance électronique" (Optical pumping in gallium antimonide: optical detection of electron resonance).[5][6] In 1977 she published the obtained value of the Landé g-factor g=-0.44 for electrons in gallium arsenide, which is important for spin physics in the quantum Hall regime.[7]

Research and career

Hermann was appointed a lecturer at École Polytechnique in 1980.[3] She taught classes in semiconductor physics.[8] She worked on the optical properties of solids, in particular the photo-emission of polarised electrons.[9][10] She developed techniques to optically measure the spin resonance in semiconductors.[11][7] She demonstrated the hole effective mass (0.051) of indium gallium arsenide in 1981.[12]

Hermann was the first woman to be appointed Professor at the École Polytechnique in 1992.[13] She spent a year as a visiting researcher at Nagoya University in Japan in 1998.[14]

Activism

Thanks to her connection with Huguette Delavault, she developed a strong interest in women scientists in France. She was startled to find that at the École Polytechnique, only 15% of the students were women. This observation led her to attend conferences and write papers on promoting the role of women in the area of science.[3]

In the year 2000, together with Françoise Cyrot-Lackmann, Huguette Delavault, Françoise Gaspard, Colette Kreder and the Femmes et Mathématiques association, Hermann was behind the creation of Femmes et Sciences, an organization designed to encourage girls and women to participate in science. In early 2025, it proposed that the names of 72 women in science should be added to the Eiffel Tower.[15]

Alongside her research into condensed matter, Hermann worked to make the environment better for women physicists.[16][17] In 1999 she was appointed to the European Union Helsinki Group on women and science, and remained a member until 2006.[18] She co-founded the platform Femmes et Sciences with Huguette Delavault in 2000.[1] She was a member of the expert group who produced the European Technology Assessment Network (ETAN) report on women in academia - Science Policies in the European Union: promoting excellence through mainstreaming gender equality - for the European Union in 2000.[19][20]

Hermann was President of the European Platform of Women Scientists from 2017-2021,[20] and was elected also the President of Honour of the EPWS in 2021, shortly before her death.[21][22][23]

Death

Claudine Hermann, aged 76, passed away on 17 July 2021, in a struggle against cancer.[24]

Honours and awards

On 8 March 2024, Université Sorbonne Paris Nord in Villetaneuse renamed one of its lecture theatres the “Claudine-Hermann Lecture Theatre” in Hermann's memory.[28] The same year a secondary school in Massy was named after her.[29]

In 2026, Hermann was announced as one of 72 historical women in STEM whose names have been proposed to be added to the 72 men already celebrated on the Eiffel Tower. The plan was announced by the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo following the recommendations of a committee led by Isabelle Vauglin of Femmes et sciences and Jean-François Martins, representing the operating company which runs the Eiffel Tower.[30][31][32][33]

Books

  • 2010 Statistical Physics: Including Applications to Condensed Matter[34]
  • 2003 Physics of Semiconductors[8]

References

  1. 1 2 "L'annuaire | a-Ulm". www.archicubes.ens.fr. Archived from the original on 2015-05-20. Retrieved 2018-12-14.
  2. ↑ Hermann, Claudine (2002). "The European Commission Report on Women and Science, and One Frenchwoman's Experience" (PDF). AIP Publishing. Retrieved 16 July 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 "Claudine Hermann, une femme enseignante à Polytechnique » VousNousIls". VousNousIls (in French). 2007-04-06. Archived from the original on 2018-12-15. Retrieved 2018-12-14.
  4. ↑ "RODRIGUES Claudine (épouse HERMANN) - 1965 S | a-Ulm". www.archicubes.ens.fr. Retrieved 2026-07-16.
  5. ↑ "Hernaamm, Claudine" (in French). Lucienne. Retrieved 16 July 2026.
  6. ↑ Hermann, Claudine (1976). Pompage optique dans l'antimoniure de gallium: détection optique de la résonance électronique (Thèse. Sc. phys. Paris VI. 1976 thesis). Paris, pays inconnu: Paris VI.
  7. 1 2 Weisbuch, Claude; Hermann, Claudine (1977-01-15). "Optical detection of conduction-electron spin resonance in , , and ". Physical Review B. 15 (2): 816–822. doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.15.816.
  8. 1 2 Sapoval, B.; Hermann, C. (1995). Physics of Semiconductors. New York: Springer-Verlag. ISBN 9780387940243.
  9. ↑ "Accelerating ERA development". Accelerating Era Development. Retrieved 2018-12-14.
  10. ↑ "science – The Social Metwork". 6 February 2018. Retrieved 2018-12-14.
  11. ↑ Hermann, Claudine; Lampel, Georges (1971-08-16). "Measurement of the g Factor of Conduction Electrons by Optical Detection of Spin Resonance in p-Type Semiconductors". Physical Review Letters. 27 (7): 373–376. Bibcode:1971PhRvL..27..373H. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.27.373.
  12. ↑ Hermann, Claudine; Pearsall, Thomas P. (1981). "Optical pumping and the valence-band light-hole effective mass in GaInAsP". Applied Physics Letters. 38 (6): 450–452. doi:10.1063/1.92393.
  13. ↑ consulatboston (2017-06-15). "Claudine Hermann". Education and Gender Equality - International Symposium. Retrieved 2018-12-14.
  14. ↑ "Research Activities". www.vbl.nagoya-u.ac.jp. Retrieved 2018-12-14.
  15. ↑ "France Addresses Gender Gap in Science". www.science.org. Retrieved 2026-06-10.
  16. ↑ "Claudine Hermann | a-Ulm". www.archicubes.ens.fr. Retrieved 2018-12-14.
  17. ↑ "Breaking the glass ceiling for women and girls in science | Friends of Europe". www.friendsofeurope.org. Archived from the original on 2018-12-15. Retrieved 2018-12-14.
  18. ↑ "Claudine HERMANN | La Jaune et la Rouge". www.lajauneetlarouge.com. Retrieved 2018-12-14.
  19. ↑ Rees, Teresa (September 2001). "Mainstreaming Gender Equality in Science in the European Union: The 'ETAN Report'". Gender and Education. 13 (3): 243–260. doi:10.1080/09540250120063544. ISSN 0954-0253.
  20. 1 2 EPWS (2021-07-21). "Prof. Claudine Hermann – EPWS Honorary President 2021". European Platform of Women Scientists EPWS. Retrieved 2026-07-16.
  21. ↑ "Claudine Hermann". Expertes France (in French). Retrieved 2018-12-14.
  22. ↑ EPWS (2022-07-17). "Dear Claudine, women scientists will always remember you!". European Platform of Women Scientists EPWS. Retrieved 2026-07-16.
  23. ↑ Citoyennes pour l'Europe (12 March 2018), Claudine Hermann: Europe of Women Scientists, retrieved 2018-12-14
  24. ↑ EPWS (2021-07-21). "Prof. Claudine Hermann, EPWS Honorary President 2021, passed away". European Platform of Women Scientists EPWS. Retrieved 2026-06-20.
  25. ↑ "JOURNAL OFFICIEL DE LA RÉPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE Présidence de la République ORDRE NATIONAL DE LA LÉGION D'HONNEUR Décret du 31 décembre 2014" (PDF). www.legiondhonneur.fr. Retrieved 2018-12-14.
  26. ↑ Secretaire, A. propos de l’auteur. "Claudine Hermann, décorée par le Président François Hollande | Association Femmes & Sciences" (in French). Archived from the original on 2020-10-20. Retrieved 2018-12-14.
  27. ↑ FemmesetSciences (25 May 2015), Discours du Président-Remise de décoration Claudine Hermann-20 mai 2015, retrieved 2018-12-14
  28. ↑ Ferbos, Léa (2024-02-09). "Journée Femmes et sciences". Université Sorbonne Paris Nord (in French). Retrieved 2026-07-16.
  29. ↑ "Collège Claudine Hermann - 46 rue de Vilgenis, 91300 Massy". clg-hermann-massy.ac-versailles.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 2025-03-29. Retrieved 2026-07-16.
  30. ↑ "Eiffel Tower: a list of 72 women scientists will soon be inscribed on the Parisian monument". www.sortiraparis.com. Retrieved 2026-02-05.
  31. ↑ "Les noms des 72 femmes pour la Tour Eiffel ont été révélés". Femmes & Sciences (in French). Retrieved 2026-06-26.
  32. ↑ 72 femmes de sciences pour la tour Eiffel Femmes & Sciences (in French). Retrieved 2026-06-26
  33. ↑ "Eiffel Tower to honor 72 women scientists for posterity". 2026-01-26. Retrieved 2026-02-05.
  34. ↑ Hermann, Claudine (2010-09-30). Statistical Physics: Including Applications to Condensed Matter. Springer New York. ISBN 9781441919809.
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