Born: 5 May 1942, Turkey
Died: 1 August 2011
Country most active: Brazil
Also known as: Belkis Dwek or Duek
The following was written by Nina Baker and is excerpted from the book From Alchemy to Transport Phenomena: A Global History of Women in Chemical Engineering.
Belkis Valdman (1942-2011) was born in Turkey but her (Jewish) family moved to Brazil when she was a child, she had all her education in Brazil and became a Brazilian national in 1967. In 1966 she gained a BSc in chemical engineering from the National School of Chemistry of the University of Brazil and an MSc in 1968, enabling her to travel to the University of Manchester to get another MSc (1969) and a PhD (1976). Her postdoctoral work on bioprocesses at Universidade Autônoma de Barcelona, was followed by becoming professor and director of the Escola de Química (School of Chemistry) at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Her fields of research were modelling and simulation of processes and control systems and the development of biosensors for monitoring and detection components, particularly for bioprocesses.