SOME MEANINGS TRANSCEND ALL CULTURES AND LANGUAGES. Physics professor Ioana Niculescu fully embodies the essence of "cool," even though that fact eludes her considerable genius. "No teenager, no matter what country they live in, thinks it's cool to do what their parents do," the Romanian native confesses.

But that's exactly what this third-generation scientist did. At the age when most American teens are choosing the perfect prom dress, Niculescu was deciding the course of her life. "In Romania, before you graduate from high school, you not only choose your college, but you must decide upon a major because you have to take a state exam in your field," explains Niculescu. Since her own strengths were math and science, she literally followed in her mother's footsteps to Bucharest University, where her mother graduated and still teaches physics.

It wasn't the easiest path, but for people like Niculescu, that's seldom a consideration. "My mom was worried about the politics of me coming to the same college and studying in her department. She didn't want me to receive special treatment. It was actually the opposite. I always felt that I had to live up to it. I really had to try harder to get good grades. My professors knew me since childhood, so they made it harder. They expected more from me. … But I never took a class taught by my mom. That definitely would not have been cool," laughs Niculescu.

Since she had plenty of female mentors in Romania, the lack of female camaraderie didn't concern Niculescu while she earned her M.S. and Ph.D. in physics at Virginia's Hampton University. And while it doesn't bother her to be the only woman in JMU's small physics department, she has come to notice the uncool science gender gap in the United States. According to the American Institute of Physics, less than 10 percent of America's physics bachelor's degrees, 20 percent of physics master's and 13 percent of physics doctorates are awarded to women. The small percentage of female physicists has actually buoyed Niculescu's resolve to be a mentor to women in science. 

Completing her second year at JMU, Niculescu is not only mentoring students on campus, she's involving them in real-world settings in the scientific community. Last summer, she participated in a historic physics experiment at the U.S. Department of Energy's Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. Niculescu joined nine other women at the Jefferson Lab in Newport News to set what may well be a new record for accelerator physics: the most female students on an experiment. That Americans regard a female-led physics experiment as a rarity is irksome to Niculescu, who served as a spokesperson for Jefferson Lab's Quark-Hadron Duality Experiment. "The big picture of what we're doing at Jefferson Lab is trying to understand the structure of protons and neutrons -- in other words, what makes up matter," she explains.

Her own contribution to shepherding female students into a male-dominated field gets erased like so much chalk on a board by Niculescu. But JMU senior Erin McGrath, one of the undergraduates involved in the experiment, says, "This was an amazing opportunity, not just because of all the female role-models. It was real-world experience.

"Dr. Niculescu is a great mentor," adds McGrath, whose research continued last fall. "She asked all the JMU female physics majors about our interests and formed a kind of support group for us. We get together once a month to eat some pizza and chat about problems and classes. It's great for the younger freshmen. They see that Dr. Niculescu cares about us, and they also see successful seniors and realize that they can make it in this field. It helps us build connections, and we talk about everything. We've never had anything like this."

"I just hope these get-togethers help in some small way," says Niculescu. Understanding what a great role model she is for her  students is ironically as hard for Niculescu to grasp as understanding physics to most of the world.

"I wish she knew just how cool she really is and what her extra effort means to us," says McGrath.

Although nuclear physics may still be a man's world, women like Niculescu are making their mark and training the next generation of scientists. "It's easy to get carried away with all this woman power," says Niculescu, who also takes great professional interest in her male physics students. Juniors James Ferrer and Jonathan Palmer Royston are also involved in her research. "A change of gender climate and good science can coexist. Hopefully soon, physics experiments run by women will be commonplace."

Story by Michelle Hite ('88)
Photos by Wayne Gehman

Design by Carolyn Windmiller ('81)

WHAT MAKES UP MATTER? The National Science Foundation funded Niculescu's six-day experiment, which focused on a question that has preoccupied scholars since ancient times: What makes up matter? Greek philosophers thought the world was composed of indivisible particles called atoms. After 2,000-plus years of theory and research, physicists now know that atoms are composed of electrons, neutrons and protons; and protons and neutrons are made of smaller pieces called quarks. The currently accepted theory about the structure of matter is the "Standard Model," based on the idea that everything in the universe is made of six quarks and six leptons. Quantum chromodynamics is the mathe-matical model used to describe the behavior of quarks. QCD can describe the behavior of the proton when it is struck by a high-energy electron -- thus the use of Jefferson Lab's high-energy accelerator. Niculescu's experiment investigated a phenomenon known as "quark-hadron duality," where relatively large objects such as proton resonances (hadrons) behave similarly to much smaller objects like quarks. Niculescu says that understanding this behavior will help interpret hadron phenomena in terms of the fundamental quarks and gluons that make up matter. "When Joseph John Thompson discovered the electron, no one knew what it would be used for," says Niculescu. "His work opened the door for computers, TVs, etc. This sort of experimentation pushes technology to the very edge."