Just prior to the sold-out Women Chemists Committee lunch on Tuesday, roughly 40 women attended an inspiring session called “Women Leaders in Chemistry: Stories of Challenges Met.” (I should acknowledge that one man attended a couple of the talks.) Publishers already have expressed interest in compiling the talks into a book.
Nine women spoke about their experiences as leaders of local sections, as academics pursing nontraditional tenure tracks in chemistry departments at various schools, as industrial powerhouses, and as advocates for telling the stories of woman chemists. They spoke about the importance of programs for mentoring young women and minorities for success and, of equal importance, programs that provide funds to women at the beginning and middle of their careers to pursue additional training. It wasn’t all hearts and sunshine: In their own words, several speakers also shared some tough personal decisions they faced and how those decisions affected them.
Even the timekeeper piqued my attention. She sat in the front row and made sure each of the nine presenters kept strictly to the schedule. Jennifer Ilsley is a high school junior from Murfeesboro, Tenn.
The teenager has presented posters at ACS regional meetings. In this session, she heard about the first African American woman chemist to earn a Ph.D. (Marie Daly) and how a woman who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry handled child care (her father-in-law watched the kids). Jennifer says she paid close attention to the personal stories and especially liked the presentation by Helen Free, former ACS president and the woman who changed the name of the ACS Women Chemists Committee from the Women’s Service Committee.
Jennifer’s father, a chemistry professor, introduced his daughter some time ago to this session’s organizer, Judith Iriarte-Gross. Then, at age 10, Jennifer participated in Gross’s program for fifth- through eighth-graders “Expanding Horizons in Science & Math.” Jennifer is now Gross’s assistant in the program. Gross says Jennifer can even finish her sentences at this point.
Will she go on to be a chemist presenting at ACS national meetings? The honors student, choir singer, piano player, and short story writer has taken several math and science classes and expresses a solid desire to teach. Right now, she’s inclined toward elementary education, but hasn’t decided if she will pursue science yet.—Rachel Petkewich, filed at 7:50 AM EST
