Who Was Judith Bregman
Box 1 of the Judith Bregman Collection.
Judith was a professor in Polytechnic Institute’s physics department beginning in the early 1950s, when the school was still called the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, and continued on into the early 1970s when Poly became known as Polytechnic Institute of New York.
It was quite the exciting time to be there, as the school had just recently made the switch from being a men’s-only college to a coed institution. Although she was on leave at the time of this major shift, working as a Weizmann Memorial Fellow at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, there is no doubt that upon returning she felt the change in atmosphere.
Judith Bregman Pictured: Bottom Right
Although it played it huge role in her life, career, and endeavors, Poly was not the beginning of Judith’s story. Before joining their faculty in 1955, she had attended the Lincoln School of Teacher’s College at Columbia University, earned a Bachelor of Arts from the chemistry department at Bryn Mawr College in 1942, and graduated from Cornell University in 1950 with a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry. She held many positions at various institutions before she made her move to Poly, including but not limited to working at Columbia as a chemistry instructor, at Harvard Medical School in their department of Biophysical Chemistry, and serving as the Acting Head of the Department of X-ray Crystallography at the Weizmann Institute.
Judith holding a still from one of her films.
While pursuing her passion for chemistry and crystallography, Judith also had a hand in a number of research projects that are evidence of her multifaceted interests. And while it’s clear that chemistry was a passion of hers, her love for sharing knowledge with others comes across very clearly in her work and in the special projects that she took on. Specifically, in her research pertaining to the preparation of instructional for physics teaching via film, and her research on best practices for teaching science to people who would not otherwise consider themselves scientists.
This involvement in education, film, and a wish to share knowledge with others in a novel way is a central theme in everything Bregman invested her time and effort into, and it led to a culmination of resources that students and teachers alike still value, learn from, and enjoy to this day. Namely, the films she left behind, which went on to capture the attention of the masses and earn themselves a prominent name within the industry. With each new document I look at, the more I get the sense that Judith was a warm person who loved sharing things with others, as well as caring for them.
Photos of Judith
Not only was she a scientist and filmmaker, but Judith was also an activist and a highly active participant who served on many boards and committees and was a member of a handful of professional societies. Physics Today, a publication, mentions that she was an important member of the Polytechnic Affirmative Action Committee as well as the Association for Women in Science. Given the state of the feminist movement in the 60s, her involvement in these councils really caught my eye.