Cecilia Payne was an English astronomer who discovered what the universe was made of. After attending Cambridge University, she left to pursue an advanced degree in the United States in part because Cambridge did not offer one to women.
Cecilia became the first full Professor and the first female chair in astronomy at Harvard. She was awarded the prestigious Henry Norris Russell Prize by the American Astronomical Society in 1977, an award that had never before been available to women.
