The first woman to earn a PhD in chemical engineering from MIT, the first woman member of AIChE, the first female AIChE Fellow, and the first woman to receive AIChE’s Founders Award.
Rousseau became the first woman in the U.S. to earn a PhD in chemical engineering in 1937. She studied thin film thermo, synthetic rubbers, and high-octane gas distillation throughout here career. Most notably, applying her experience in synthesis and adistillation, she designed the first large-scale production plant to produce penicillin from cantaloupe fermentation during WWII. Her design produced over 2.3 million doses for U.S. soldiers in 1944, saving lives from infectious disease. She became the first woman member of AICHE and earned the Achievement Award of SWE.