Lise Meitner, (1878-1968) A Jewish scientist, she escaped from the Nazis to Sweden in 1938, and carried out the key calculations that led to the discovery of nuclear fission. Her collaborator, Otto Hahn, who stayed behind in Germany, was the sole recipient of the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1944. In 1997 Meitner was finally honored when element 109 was named. She was the first woman physics professor in Germany, and when in Stockholm she received news from Hahn that their experiment has produced an unexpected element. Meitner realized it meant fission had taken place while Hahn was still trying to figure out what their data meant. He went on to win a Nobel prize for the discovery, while Meitner was left out.