Angela Camacho

Ángela Stella Camacho Beltrán (born 5 February 1947), is a Colombian physicist and president of the Colombian Network of Women Scientists.

Camacho's main work is in the fields of condensed matter physics, solid state physics, and low-dimensional physics.

She was the first Colombian woman to obtain a PhD in physics.

Camacho was born in Bogotá.

In 1966, she started her studies at the National University of Colombia, where she received her degree in physics in 1970.

Camacho then travelled to Germany and obtained a Diplom-physikerin at the Technische Hochschule Darmstadt, in 1973.

In 1977 she was awarded a Dr. rer. nat. by the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, West Germany.

She was the first Colombian woman to obtain a doctorate in physics.

Upon her return to Colombia in 1978, Camacho started teaching and researching at the physics department of the Industrial University of Santander, where she remained until 1982.

There Beltrán became the research director of the physics department between 1980 and 1982.

She has been active in the Colombian Physics Society, starting in 1980 as a Coordinator of the Northeast Chapter (1980-1982).

In 1982 she transferred to the physics department of the Andes University where she occupied various posts, including: Department Director (1984-1988), Postgraduate and Research Coordinator (1990-2005) and Member of the Committee of Teacher Organization of the Faculty of Sciences (2008-2012).

Throughout her professional career she has actively participated in the formation of physicists, directing 2 doctoral, 11 masters and 16 undergraduate theses.

Camacho has been a member of six national and international scientific associations; she was an Associate Member of the International Center for Theoretical Physics between 1984 and 1990.

Later, Beltrán became the Society's Secretary of the Central Chapter (1993-1995), Principal Member of the Board of Directors (1995-1997), Secretary of the Board of Directors (1999-2001), Vice President (2001-2003) and then Coordinator of the Central Chapter (2002-2004).

Camacho was also a Leader representative for Colombia in the Red IX.e of the CYTED Microelectronics program (1999-2003), and Leader for Colombia in the CYTED NANODYF network (2011-2014).

She has been a guest professor and visiting professor in research centers in Europe (Italy, Germany, Spain, Denmark), United States and Mexico.

She was a Leader for Colombia in the Movement of Women in Physics in Paris (March, 2002).

Camacho helped create, and is currently President of, the Colombian Network of Women Scientists, which aims to stimulate the participation of women of all ages in Colombian scientific development.

In 2003 the Colombian Association for the Advancement of Science awarded Beltrán the National Award for Excellence in Research; in 2002 the Colombian Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences elected her a Corresponding Member, and a Full Member in 2011.

Camacho has expertise in condensed matter physics, solid state physics, low dimensional physics, Low-Dimensional Semiconductor Structures.

She is also an expert in semiconductor nanostructures, optical and electronic properties and dynamics of nanostructures.

Currently her interests are focused on the interaction of light with zero-dimensional and one-dimensional nano-systems, for instance, nano-wiring that serve as models for carbon nanotubes.

Camacho is active in supporting and promoting women in science.

In an interview in 2019, Camacho says that gender biases in the games of young children can affect how they feel about sciences in the future, and states that there is still work to be done in her country towards gender equality in science.

Some of the publications by Dr. Camacho Beltrán to date are :