Belated recognition of Lucy Mensing
AUG 30, 2025
Werner Heisenberg (left) speaks with Lucy Mensing (center). The photo is said to have been taken at a joint East–West conference of the German Physical Society in Berlin in 1952, though no record of such a meeting has as yet been located. The woman on the right is identified only by the last name Meißner.
AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives, Mensing Collection, Gift of Dr. Dorothea Roloff.
The creation of a Wikipedia page for Lucy Mensing, based largely on the article about her by Gernot Münster in Physik Journal, seems to have brought her some belated recognition and increased visibility. Here are three examples:
- In 2021 the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf announced a new development fund (Förderfonds) named after Mensing to support parents, especially women, seeking to return to the academic work force after having children.
- In 2022 Amazon Braket launched a new quantum processor named Lucy in her honor.
- In 2023 the Deutsches Museum presented an “augmented reality walk of fame” for important female scientists, which includes Mensing and features a sculpture by Anke Schiemann entitled “Mother Lucy” (Mutter Lucy).
Cite this resource
Michel Janssen, “Lucy Mensing,” American Institute of Physics, 2025. http://www.aip.org/history/lucy-mensing.