Born: 21 February 1924, United States
Died: 15 February 2014
Country most active: United States
Also known as: Thelma Austern
The following bio was written by Emma Rosen, author of On This Day She Made History: 366 Days With Women Who Shaped the World and This Day In Human Ingenuity & Discovery: 366 Days of Scientific Milestones with Women in the Spotlight, and has been republished with permission.
Thelma Estrin, a pioneering Jewish-American computer scientist and engineer, was a trailblazer in applying computer technology to healthcare and medical research.
Estrin was instrumental in designing the Weizmann Automatic Computer (WEIZAC), the first computer in Israel and the Middle East, and played a significant role in the leadership of the IEEE and its Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. She passed away in 2014.
The following is republished from NASA. This piece falls under under public domain, as copyright does not apply to “any work of the U.S. Government” where “a work prepared by an officer or employee of the U.S. Government as part of that person’s official duties” (See, 17 U.S.C. §§ 101, 105).
In 1981, Thelma Estrin was awarded the Society of Women Engineers’ award for pioneering the application of engineering to medicine. She established the first integrated electronics and computer laboratory for neuroscientists. She was the first woman to serve on the Aerospace Corporation’s Board of Trustees.