Helen Quinn

Helen Quinn
Helen Quinn at Harvard University
Born	Helen Rhoda Arnold (1943-05-19) May 19, 1943 (age 73) Melbourne, Australia
Residence	Portola Valley, California, United States
Nationality	United States naturalised citizen
Institutions	Harvard University, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, Stanford University
Alma mater	Tintern Grammar Stanford University
Doctoral advisor	James Bjorken
Known for	Peccei-Quinn theory Hierarchy of Interactions in Unified Gauge Theories A Framework for K-12 Science Education
Notable awards	Dirac Medal (2000) Order of Australia (2005) Oskar Klein Medal (2008) Sakurai Prize (2013) Karl Taylor Compton Medal (2016)

Helen Rhoda Arnold Quinn (born 19 May 1943 in Melbourne) is an Australian-born particle physicist and educator who has made major contributions to both fields. Her contributions to theoretical physics include the Peccei-Quinn theory which implies a corresponding symmetry of nature (related to matter-antimatter symmetry and the possible source of the dark matter that pervades the universe) and contributions to the search for a unified theory for the three types of particle interactions (strong, electromagnetic, and weak). As Chair of the Board on Science Education of the National Academy of Sciences, Quinn led the effort that produced A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas —the basis for the Next Generation Science Standards adopted by many states. Her honours include the Dirac Medal of the International Center for Theoretical Physics, the Oskar Klein Medal from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, appointment as an Honorary Officer of the Order of Australia, the J. J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Particle Physics from the American Physical Society, and the Karl Taylor Compton Medal for Leadership in Physics from the American Institute of Physics.

Quinn grew up in Australia and graduated in 1959 from Tintern Grammar, Tintern Church of England Girls' Grammar School, in Ringwood East, Victoria, Australia. She began college at the University of Melbourne before moving to the USA and transferring to Stanford University. She received her Ph.D. from Stanford in 1967, at a time when less than 2% of physicists were women. She did her postdoctoral work at the DESY (the German Synchrotron Laboratory) in Hamburg, Germany. She next spent seven years at Harvard University before returning to Stanford where she became a professor of physics at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. She retired in 2010 and devoted her efforts to education, especially K-12 and preschool science and multilingual education. She and her husband raised two children and have three grandchildren.