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Biography
Rubin received her Ph.D in 1954 at Georgetown University and continued to work on the faculty for another 11 years while raising her children. While at Georgetown, Rubin was offered the privilege of using the male only telescope located in Palomer. Rubin was heralded for creating a more gender equal environment within the Georgetown students. After her time at Georgetown, Rubin joined the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism (DTM) where she met her long time friend, Kent Ford (astronomer). Five years after joining the DTM, Rubin and Ford began examining the rotation of neighboring galaxies, the Andromeda Galaxy in particular. In the mid-1970s, the two astronomers showed that the stars at the far parts of the Andromeda Galaxy moved faster relative to the stars closer to the center of the galaxy. Rubin theorized that there must be some unseen mass that allows the stars that are far away from the center to move faster than the ones near the center, this unseen mass became known as Dark matter. Her discoveries in the field of Astronomy has gathered great acclaim heralding several awards including the Gold Medal of London's Royal Astronomical Society making her the second women to receive the award along with Caroline Herschel.

Aside from her astronomical achievements, Vera Rubin has also been an active and outspoken member in encouraging women to pursue the sciences. Rubin along with Margaret Burbridge advocate for the further involvement of women in groups such as the National Academy of Sciences (NAS).