Natasha Goldowski Renner

Natasha Goldowski Renner was an intense critic and examiner of the true meaning of education. She taught at Alfred University as an associate professor of physics from 1956 to 1962, but her mission was not only to educate students, but to show them how to analyze and synthesize information. Her perspective always favored a width and depth of intellectual understanding that extended well beyond the basic recital of facts. In teaching, Dr. Renner hoped to shape future scientists.

“The ultimate goal [of education] is wisdom.” –Natasha Goldowski Renner

Dr. Renner herself was an internationally known physicist. When the atomic bomb was in its early development, she participated in the Manhattan Project in Chicago as a corrosion expert.

Her dedication as an educator is memorialized by the Natasha Goldowski Renner Prize in physics, which continues to be awarded to a student who displays excellence and promise in the study of physics.