Explore the extraordinary contributions and life stories of talented Cuban women who have excelled in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
Date of birth: 13 February 1951
Current position: Ph.D. Psychological Sciences. Senior Researcher and Director.
Organization: Center for Women’s Studies. FMC.
Full member of the Cuban Academy of Sciences: 2018
PhD in Psychological Sciences (1993). Titular Researcher (1995) and was for years Assistant Professor at the Higher Pedagogical Institute of Technical and Professional Education. Since 2018 she has been a Full Academician of the Cuban Academy of Sciences. She directed the Center for Psychological and Sociological Research of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment of Cuba until 1996 and since that year she has been the Director of the Center for Women’s Studies of the Federation of Cuban Women. She is a Member of the Permanent State Council of Scientific Degrees in the specialty of Psychology and coordinated the Network of Research and Work with Families.
She haas belonged for several years to the Board of Directors of the Society of Psychologists of Cuba. She has conducted research on the issues of women, family and gender relations in today’s Cuban society, achieving 9 awards for relevant research at the national level and other important recognitions.
She provides technical advice on gender issues to other institutions and organizations and is responsible at the national level for the methodological coordination of the FMC to the Women’s Chairs Program of the Universities. She has also been a consultant for gender and family issues for several United Nations agencies such as the World Food Programme, the United Nations Children’s Fund for Population and Development and has directed several international cooperation projects. She was selected as a member of the Technical Committee of the Institute for Women’s Empowerment of the Non-Aligned Movement. He is a member of the FMC National Committee and is a member of the FMC.
Full Professor. University of Havana.
ORCID: 0000-0001-8916-3807
Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Havana in 1996, she made a training stay in the laboratory of the Nobel Prize in Physics Zhores Alferov at the Ioffe Institute in St. Petersburg, Russia. His research focuses on Condensed Matter Physics, especially on semiconductor devices such as: laser diodes, Quantum Cascade Lasers and Solar Cells. He is currently dedicated to the characterization of semiconductor materials and devices using the surface tension spectroscopy technique. 30 years of experience in teaching Physics at the University of Havana. He has taught postgraduate courses at the Federal University of Minas Gerais in Brazil, at the Solid State Electronics Section of CINVESTAV CDMX and at the Master’s Degree in Advanced Materials, Nanotechnology and Photonics of the Autonomous University of Madrid. She has been Editor of the Cuban Journal of Physics and Dean of the Faculty of Physics at the University of Havana. Currently, is President of the Iberoamerican Federation of Physics Societies (FEIASOFI).
Full researcher and head of the Mathematics Department at the Institute of Cybernetics,
Mathematics and Physics, Cuba. Her career has focused on spline functions and its applications. She is currently interested in the numerical solution of partial differential equations using the iso geometric approach. Author of more than 50 scientific publications in indexed Journals and memories of international Conferences. Involved in international projects supported by academic institutions of México, Brazil, Germany and France. She has taught postgraduate courses as invited professor in México and Ecuador and also as associated professor of the Applied Mathematics Department of Havana University. Member of Cuban Society for Mathematics and Computation. She has received several prizes of Cuban Academy of Sciences and also the TWAS Prize to Young Scientist and the Sofia Kovalevskaya Foundation Prize.
Date of birth: October 8, 1945. Bachelor’s degree in History from the Central University of Las Villas, Cuba, (1969), PhD in Philosophical Sciences, Cuban Academy of Sciences (1984)
Position: Senior Researcher at the Institute of Philosophy and member of the Scientific Council of that institution.
– Academician of Merit and Vice President of the Academy of Sciences of Cuba.
– Adjunct Professor at the University of Havana.
She has specialized in Political and Social Theory and has directed or participated in various research projects on contemporary Cuban society and in thematic areas related to socialist transition; State and civil society; democracy; public policies; political relations; popular participation; social justice; ethics.
Has taught postgraduate courses and lecture cycles in several Cuban and foreign academic institutions. She has been a tutor of doctoral theses and diploma projects.
Is currently Member of the academic committees and faculty of three doctoral programs.
1988-1999: Director of the Institute of Philosophy. Since 1995 she has been simultaneously Coordinator of the Social Sciences Council of the Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment, CITMA.
Since 2010: Senior Researcher at the Institute of Philosophy belonging to CITMA.
Author of several textbooks such as “Dilemmas of the Socialist Transition in Cuba” (Editorial Label Filosofía.cu, 2016)
She has collaborated on many texts as co-author such as “Ideology & Independence in the Americas”, (MEP Publications, USA 1989), Rosa Luxembourg, (Verlag 8Mai, Berlin, 1999) and “Recreating Democracy in a Globalized State” (Clarity Press USA, 2013)
Has published more than 100 articles and essays in Cuban and foreign journals:
Olga has participated as a speaker in dozens of events held in Ecuador, Panama, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Russia, the United States, Germany, Peru, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Spain, Colombia, Venezuela, Chile, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Norway, Canada, Brazil and Cuba.
• Representative of the Cuban Academy of Sciences in the “Women for Science Program” of the Inter-American Network of Academies of Sciences (IANAS).
• Member of the National Permanent Tribunal of Scientific Degrees in Political Science and representative of that Tribunal in the National Commission of Scientific Degrees of Cuba.
• Member of the Group of Experts of the National Research Program on Cuban Society.
• President of the Social Sciences and Humanities Section of the Economic Society of Friends of the Country and member of the Governing Board of that entity.
• Member of the Editorial board of the Cuban Journal of Social Sciences
Date of birth: 12 March 1953
Position: PhD in Geological Sciences. Senior Researcher. Personnel training for Petrophysics Laboratory:
Organization: INSTEC retiree reinstated in CEINPT
Year joined ACC: 2002, Merit Member of the Cuban Academy of Sciences
Norma Rodríguez Martínez graduated in Mining Geophysical Engineering. Graduated with honors and was selected as the best foreign student at the Baku Higher Institute of Petroleum and Chemistry. She was Vice-Chancellor of the Higher Institute of Technologies and Applied Sciences (InSTEC of the Havana University) and Professor of the Department of Nuclear Engineering in the period 1999-2014. She has given keynote Lectures at scientific and teaching institutions in Latin America (Ecuador, Argentina, Brazil). She is author of text books for teaching in the careers of Engineering in Nuclear and Energy Technology and Bachelor’s Degree in Nuclear Physics, as well as for the master’s degree in Engineering in Energy and Nuclear Facilities, Petrophysics, etc.
She has been tutor and participated in graduation, Master’s and Doctoral thesis tribunals. She is retired from INSTEC (Ministry of Higher Education) and reincorporated as a Titular Researcher of Petroleum Production of CEINPET where she works mainly in the training of personnel for the Petrophysics laboratory and in the start-up of the existing equipment. She used to teach training courses to management specialists and directed the practice of a 4th year student of the Geophysical Engineering career at the Technological Institute, CUJAE, and collaborates in the direction of his graduation thesis.
Norma is the promoter of the realization of the CEINPET-InSTEC Student Scientific Forum since its very beginning.
43 years of experience. Tenured Academician in the period 2002-2018, currently Academic of Merit.
Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor, Senior Researcher. Head of the Diagnostic and Reference Research Center (CIDR) of the “Pedro Kourí” Institute of Tropical Medicine. Member of the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS).
Dr. Elena Vigil, founder of the School of Physics at the University of Havana and pioneer in the development of semiconductor devices in Cuba, conceived an experiment on the growth of semiconductor materials that took place in micro-gravity conditions during flight set.
Dr. Mayra Paulina Hernández Sánchez (July 1, 1954 – 2024) was a distinguished Cuban physicist and professor known for her pioneering work in materials science. She graduated in Physics from the University of Havana in 1978 and earned her PhD in Physical Sciences in 2000. As a prominent researcher, she specialized in the atomic-level characterization of materials with applications in biology, medicine, and materials science, using advanced microscopy and spectroscopic techniques.
Dr. Hernández collaborated with prestigious institutions worldwide, including universities in Mexico, Germany, and Brazil. She led the Nano Group of the Division of Nano Materials at IMRE and supervised numerous theses at various academic levels. Throughout her career, she published 70 scientific papers in high-impact journals and was recognized with multiple honors, including the Carlos J. Finlay Order, the title of Emeritus Researcher from the University of Havana, and the prestigious Sofía Kovalevskaya Prize in 2016. Her legacy continues to inspire the scientific community in Cuba and beyond.
Graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Physics from the University of Havana in 1971, Master’s degree in Nuclear Physics on the subject of Fast Neutron Spectroscopy, in 1976, one year training in Budapest, Hungary at the KFKI in Nuclear Physics, Postgraduate courses in Poland , PhD in Numerical Methods of Differential Equations at the Calculation Center of the former USSR, Moscow 1989. He has more than 70 publications in national and international specialized magazines and has presented plenary conferences, invited conferences, presentations, panelist at more than 150 events scientists. She has directed 15 research projects in her specialty of Numerical Analysis, in Cuba, Mexico, Brazil, Venezuela and Argentina, co-author of two Books Numerical Methods of Mathematical Analysis and Methods of Linear Algebra, the first of which received the Critics’ Prize for best Science Book published in Cuba in 1993. Her work experience began in 1971 until 1981 at the Institute of Nuclear Physics, then moving to the Institute of Cobernetics, Mathematics and Physics where she held management positions as Vice Director from 1991 to 1998. She held the position of Director of Sciences of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment for 8 years from 2002 to 2010 until joining the staff of the Cuban Academy of Sciences as Secretary of the Plenary of Academics and as Head of the Science Promotion Group. She is currently the Ambassador for Cuba of the World Committee of Women Mathematics of the International Mathematics Union, CMW-IMU. She is a member of merit of the Cuban Academy of Sciences and a full member of the Academy of Sciences of the Developing World, TWAS, since 2008, where she carries out intense work both on the topics of Mathematics and on Women in Sciences and where she has been elected as General Secretary in 2023. She is a recognized promoter and disseminator of science and in the area of Science Teaching through non-formal channels, in Cuba and in the Latin American and Caribbean Region. She has been a recipient of the Carlos J. Finlay Order, the highest award for her contributions to Cuban Science awarded by the Council of State of the Republic of Cuba. She is currently the Ambassador for Cuba of the World Committee of Women Mathematics of the International Mathematics Union, CMW-IMU. She is a member of merit of the Cuban Academy of Sciences and a full member of the Academy of Sciences of the Developing World, TWAS, since 2008, where she carries out intense work both on the topics of Mathematics and on Women in Sciences and where she has been elected as General Secretary in 2023. She is a recognized promoter and disseminator of science and in the area of Science Teaching through non-formal channels, in Cuba and in the Latin American and Caribbean Region. She has been a recipient of the Carlos J. Finlay Order, the highest award for her contributions to Cuban Science awarded by the Council of State of the Republic of Cuba.
Bachelor’s degree in Physics from the University of Havana in 1995, Master’s degree in
Physical Sciences in 1996 and Doctor´s degree in Physical Science in 2001. She is Full
Professor at the Faculty of Physics, University of Havana, and its Dean since 2019.
Young Associated of The Academy of Sciences of Cuba (2002-2011). She has been
selected as Full Member of The Academy of Sciences of Cuba (2024-2029). Her
scientific career has focused on the development and study of multifuncional materials
and has authored more than 130 papers in high quality international journals, several
chapters of books (being the editor of two books), and more than 200 works in
international and national meetings. She has been the adviser of several thesis: BSc.
(15), MSc. (9) and PhD. (6). She has led several research projects with institutions from
Latin-America, Europe and Asia, included three TWAS Research Grants. She is Board
Member of the Journal of Advanced Dielectrics from Word Scientific. She also has
been: Member of the Academical Comitee for Master and PhD in Physical Science
(Faculty of Physics, University of Havana), Secretary of its Scientific Council (2019-
2022), Member of the Scientific Council of the University of Havana (2019-2022),
Member of the National Jury of Physics Doctor Degree (2006-2022). She has been
invited professor in universities from Mexico, Brazil, Spain, France and China. Her
initiative led to the development of the Latin-American Network of Ferroelectrics
Materials (ICTP Network, 2000-2019). Her results have been widely recognized in her
country and worldwide through the award of numerous prizes. She has received eight
internationals prizes, such as: Award “Sofia Kovalieskaya”, TWOWS Award for Young
Women Scientists in Physics/Mathematics for the Latin-America and Caribbean region,
TWAS-ROLAC Award for Young Scientists in Physics for the Latin-America and
Caribbean region, Prize “Heberto Martínez Castillo” given by the Institute of Science
and Technology from Mexico City as best Latin-American Young Scientist, Young
Scientist Award of CAS-TWAS. She has also received nine Awards of the Sciences
Academy of Cuba, three Awards of the Agency of Nuclear Energy and Advanced
Technologies, National Award Young Research of the Cuban Science and Technology
Minister in the Section of Natural Sciences; Two Awards given by the Minister of High
Education of Cuba for Scientific Researches, Medal ´´Carlos J. Finlay´´ for Relevant
Scientific Researches
Senior researcher/ Senior professor
ORCID: 0000-0001-9941-4462
12/15/1961, Havana. Bachelor’s degree in Physics from the University of Havana (1984), PhD in Physical Sciences from ICIMAF. Author of more than 70 articles in Peer Reviewed Journals (Phys. Rev. Lett., Phys. Rev. A and C, D, Eur. J of Phys C, Class Quantum Gravity Gen. Relativ. Gravit, JCAP etc.). It has a total of 1387 citations, h-index 14. One of them with 307 citations. He has participated in more than 55 scientific events. She was awarded with Kovalievskaia Prize for Women in Sciences in 2009. She received awards from the Cuban Academy of Sciences in 2004, 2008, 2012 2014. She also obtained an award from the Agency Nuclear Energy in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2012. National Vanguard of the Science in 2005. Associate Member of the International Center for Theoretical Physics (ICTP, Trieste-UNESCO) from 1997 to 2004. Associate Member of the South Excellent Center CBPF (TWAS-UNESCO) from 2005-2009. She has supervised 3 doctoral theses, 8 master’s and 9 diploma thesis on Theoretical Physics. She has collaboration with European and Latin American institutions: ICRANET Pescara Italy, FIAS (Institute for Advanced Studies in Frankfurt Germany, Fermi National Accelerator FERMILAB, Institute Technological of Lisbon Portugal, Universidad de Salamanca and UNAM Mexico, among others. She was Vice President of the Cuban Physical Society since 2008-2020 and actually Head of Women Physics Section and Leader of the Women Cuban Team of IUPAP. Besides that, she and Marcus Bleicher are the leaders of the DAAD project Empowering Women in Science (2023-2026).