She is a Distinguished Professor of Physics at The City College of New York since 1995 and has taught there since 1964.
In 2008 she was elected to the governing council of the National Academy of Sciences.
She is an experimental condensed matter physicist.
Her work consists of experimenting at low temperatures.She was active in defending scientists' human rights as a member and chair of the Committee on the International Freedom of Scientists of the APS, a long-time member of the Human Rights of Scientists Committee of the New York Academy of Sciences, and a board member of the Committee of Concerned Scientists.