21 Facts About Donna Strickland

Donna Theo Strickland was born on 27 May 1959 and is a Canadian optical physicist and pioneer in the field of pulsed lasers.

Donna Strickland was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2018, together with Gerard Mourou, for the practical implementation of chirped pulse amplification.

Donna Strickland is a professor at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada.

Donna Strickland served as fellow, vice president, and president of Optica, and is currently chair of its Presidential Advisory Committee.

Donna Strickland studied for her graduate degree in The Institute of Optics, receiving a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Rochester in 1989.

Donna Strickland conducted her doctoral research at the associated Laboratory for Laser Energetics, supervised by Gerard Mourou.

From 1988 to 1991, Donna Strickland was a research associate at the National Research Council of Canada, where she worked with Paul Corkum in the Ultrafast Phenomena Section, which had the distinction at that time of having produced the most powerful short-pulse laser in the world.

Donna Strickland worked in the laser division of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory from 1991 to 1992 and joined the technical staff of Princeton University's Advanced Technology Center for Photonics and Opto-electronic Materials in 1992.

Donna Strickland joined the University of Waterloo in 1997 as an assistant professor.

Donna Strickland became the first full-time female professor in physics at the University of Waterloo.

Donna Strickland is currently a professor, leading an ultrafast laser group that develops high-intensity laser systems for nonlinear optics investigations.

Donna Strickland is working on the role of high-power lasers in the microcrystalline lens of the human eye, during the process of micromachining of the eye lens to cure presbyopia.

Donna Strickland served as its vice president and president in 2011 and 2013 respectively, and was a topical editor of its journal Optics Letters from 2004 to 2010.

Donna Strickland is currently the chair of Optica's Presidential Advisory Committee.

Donna Strickland is a member of and previously served as a board member and Director of Academic Affairs for the Canadian Association of Physicists.

On 2 October 2018, Donna Strickland was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for her work on chirped pulse amplification with her doctoral adviser Gerard Mourou.

Donna Strickland became the third woman ever to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics, after Marie Curie in 1903 and Maria Goeppert Mayer in 1963.

Donna Strickland said that after developing the technique they knew it would be a significant discovery.

Donna Strickland was appointed as a Companion of the Order of Canada in 2019, one of Canada's highest civilian honours.

Donna Strickland is married to Douglas Dykaar, who received a doctorate in electrical engineering from the University of Rochester.

Donna Strickland is an active member of the United Church of Canada.