Undaunted Ursula Franklin : Activist, Educator, Scientist

“Peace is not the absence of war, peace is the absence of fear,” said Ursula Franklin

Ursula Franklin was a brave and brilliant woman. Born in Germany with Jewish ancestry, she survived the Holocaust while many in her family were killed in the Nazi’s concentration camps. She became a physicist and an engineer at a time when women were not welcome in academics. These experiences shaped Ursula, and she went on to stand up for equality, for peace, and for the protection of the environment and the vulnerable throughout her life.

Ursula Franklin was also a caring mother, as her daughter Monica Franklin shows in the stories here. Ursula was celebrated in her lifetime, receiving both the Governor General’s Award and the Pearson Medal of Peace. Today she has not only a street but a school named after her in Toronto, where children can learn to remain undaunted despite what hardships we face—to pursue our dreams while standing up for what is right—under the shelter of her name.