Barrier-breaking astronomer graces a U.S. quarter

Astronomy

By | Joe Wilensky , Cornellians

Pioneering Cornellians often make change—but for the first time, you’ll find a Cornellian on your change! Vera Cooper Rubin, MS ’51, a groundbreaking astronomer whose life’s work included procuring the scientific evidence to prove the existence of dark matter, is being featured in the 2025 cohort of the American Women Quarters Program.

According to Big Red history expert Corey Ryan Earle ’07, it’s believed to be the first time a Cornellian has ever been depicted on a circulating U.S. coin.

The program, which the U.S. Mint launched in 2022 in partnership with the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum, has honored five women annually with individual designs on the reverse side of the quarter.

Rubin’s fellow honorees for 2025—the program’s final year—are athlete Althea Gibson, Girl Scouts founder Juliette Gordon Low, disabilities activist Stacey Park Milbern, and journalist and suffragist Ida B. Wells.

The five designs will be circulated throughout the country over the next several months.

Read the full story on the Cornellians website. 

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