Eleanor Reed Adair

Honorary Degree 2007 Doctor of Science

Eleanor Reed Adair '48 is a leading scientist whose work has proved that exposure to radiation from microwave ovens and cell phones is not harmful to human beings. Adair received a Ph.D. in psychophysics from the University of Wisconsin and began researching the physiological effects of microwave radiation in 1975 at Yale University's John B. Pierce Laboratory. In 1996, Adair was appointed Senior Scientist in Electromagnetic Radiation Effects for the Human Effectiveness Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory at Brooks Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas--a position equivalent to the rank of brigadier general. During her five-year term, Adair conducted a series of studies on the interaction of humans and microwaves that definitively confirmed the standards for the safe use of electromagnetic energy.

Adair was named an Air Force senior scientist emeritus in 2001. She continues to consult at Brooks and is currently working on a manuscript detailing her work there.