Condensed matter theoretician Esther M. Conwell laid the theoretical foundation for a broad range of materials critical to the computer age—from transistors to integrated circuits to the wafers used for the manufacture of electronic devices. She worked in semiconductors, highly conductive quasi-one-dimensional organic crystals, conducting polymers, and DNA. Her work enabled the microelectronics industry, long-distance communication networks, advanced photocopying, solar cells, and light-emitting diodes. Conwell was the author of a seminal textbook, hundreds of papers, and the holder of four patents. The second woman elected to both the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Sciences, she was the first woman to receive the Thomas Alva Edison Medal of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Recognized with the Society of Women Engineers Achievement Award, her many other honors include the National Medal of Science.