Person: Moreno, Adelina Gutiérrez
Adelina Gutiérrez was a Chilean professor, scientist and academic who was the main force behind setting up the first Bachelor's degree in Astronomy in Chile and later the first Master's degree in Astronomy. She was the first Chilean to obtain a doctorate in astrophysics and also the first woman elected to the Chilean Academy of Sciences.
Mathematical Profile (Excerpt):
- Adelina attended the María Auxiliadora school in Santiago de Chile.
- In 1903 it moved to Avenida Matta 726 and it was there when Adelina attended the school.
- We will refer to her as Gutiérrez for the rest of this biography, although from 1966 on she published under the name Gutiérrez-Moreno.
- While studying at the Pedagogical Institute, Gutiérrez met a fellow student Hugo Moreno León who was also studying science subjects.
- Soon after Gutiérrez began working there, Federico Rutllant (1904-1971) became the director.
- Gutiérrez wished to undertake research for a doctorate and was encouraged by the Director of the National Astronomical Observatory.
- On 12 January 1960, Gutiérrez flew on the airline Lan from Santiago de Chile to Miami, Florida on her way to Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.
- Towards the end of 1967 Gutiérrez was elected as the first woman member of the Academy.
- Having established a Bachelor's Degree in Astronomy, Gutiérrez worked on the introduction of a Master's Degree in Astronomy in the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences of the University of Chile.
- Gutiérrez was a pioneer in photoelectric photometry of southern stars and the author of many books and study manuals, among which we mention Observando los Astros: Desarrollo de las Técnicas de Astrofísica Ⓣ(Observing the stars: developing astrophysical techniques) (1978).
- These last two were poets and Gutiérrez was keen to write poems herself.
- Then Dr Adelina Gutiérrez, the only woman in the Department of Astronomy, the only astronomer who had a doctorate, made a great impression on me, the rest of the professors had not studied abroad.
- From 1 January 1974 Gutiérrez worked full time until she retired on 30 December 1987.
- After her death the Chilean Academy of Sciences honoured her by establishing the Adelina Gutiérrez Award for Scientific Excellence which recognises outstanding research abilities in those under the age of 40.
- Perhaps Gutiérrez achieved her greatest fame in 2020, five years after her death, when on 27 May of that year, Google celebrated what would have been her 95th birthday with one of their famous doodles on the main page of their search engine in Chile, Argentina and Peru.
- With this doodle we want to continue fulfilling our mission of contributing to the conservation and democratisation of the legacy of women like Adelina Gutiérrez and we extend an invitation to learn more about her enormous legacy to national science.
- José Maza was a student of Gutiérrez's and he was awarded the National Prize for Exact Sciences in 1999.
- all of us who passed through the Observatory in the late 1960s and early 1970s had courses with Adelina Gutiérrez.
Born 27 May 1925, Santiago de Chile, Chile. Died 11 April 2015, Santiago de Chile, Chile.
View full biography at MacTutor
Tags relevant for this person:
Origin Chile, Women
Thank you to the contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0! 
- Github:
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- non-Github:
- @J-J-O'Connor
- @E-F-Robertson
References
Adapted from other CC BY-SA 4.0 Sources:
- O’Connor, John J; Robertson, Edmund F: MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive
