This week, we continue to celebrate Women’s History Month and are excited to take the opportunity to elevate just a few key women who have made big waves in the male-dominated field of STEM. This post features notable scientists that were featured in Byers’ Women in STEM Project. Byers students learned about these key leaders and then presented on them! We still want to hear from you- who are the notable women that have inspired you? Share your shero here!
For a great general resource, check out Changing the Face of Medicine, where you’ll find all kinds of resources including interviews with female leaders in the STEM field.
Dr. Patricia Bath, ophthalmologist and laser scientist, was an innovative research scientist and advocate for blindness prevention, treatment, and cure. Her accomplishments include the invention of a new device and technique for cataract surgery known as laserphaco, the creation of a new discipline known as "community ophthalmology," and appointment as the first woman chair of ophthalmology in the United States, at Drew-UCLA in 1983.
Dr. Mina Bissell has been recognized for her lifetime contributions to the fields of breast cancer research, the enhanced role of extracellular matrix (ECM) and the nucleus environment to gene expression in normal and malignant tissues. These works have ushered and have changed some central paradigms that have strengthened the importance of context in the development of cancer.
Dr. Alexa Canady had almost dropped out of college as an undergraduate, but after recovering her self-confidence she went on to qualify as the first African American woman neurosurgeon in the United States. In her work as a neurosurgeon, she saw young patients facing life-threatening illnesses, gunshot wounds, head trauma, hydrocephaly, and other brain injuries or diseases. Throughout her twenty-year career in pediatric neurosurgery, Dr. Canady has helped thousands of patients, most of them age ten or younger.
Pooja Chandrashekar is a second-year medical student at Harvard Medical School. Alongside clinical medicine, she is passionate about improving the quality and delivery of healthcare, and hopes to leverage emerging technologies and policy levers to transform care for underserved populations. Current research focuses on using data analytics and informatics to measure the cost, quality, and appropriateness of care and inform the development of high-performing health systems and equitable policies.
Dr. Asima Chatterjee was the first woman to be awarded a Doctor of Science by an Indian University - in 1944, by the University of Calcutta. She was also the first woman to be elected as the General President of the Indian Science Congress, a premier institution that oversees scientific research. She made significant contributions in the field of medicinal chemistry with special reference to alkaloids, coumarins and terpenoids, analytical chemistry, and mechanistic organic chemistry.
Annie Easley In 1955, Easley began her career as a “human computer,” doing computations for researchers. This involved analyzing problems and doing calculations by hand. She would contribute to numerous programs as a computer scientist, inspire many through her enthusiastic participation in outreach programs, break down barriers for women and people of color in STEM fields, and win the admiration and respect of her coworkers.
Dr. Jocelyn Elders was the first person in the state of Arkansas to become board certified in pediatric endocrinology, the fifteenth Surgeon General of the United States, the first African American and only the second woman to head the U.S. Public Health Service. Long an outspoken advocate of public health, Elders was appointed Surgeon General by President Clinton in 1993.
Grace Hopper was a computer pioneer and naval officer. She received a master’s degree (1930) and a Ph.D. (1934) in mathematics from Yale. One of the first three modern “programmers,” Hopper is best known for her trailblazing contributions to the development of computer languages. Known as irreverent, sharp-tongued, and brilliant, she enjoyed long and influential careers in both the U.S. Navy and the private sector.
Dr. Jedidah Isler is an Assistant Professor of Astrophysics at Dartmouth College where she studies hyperactive, supermassive black holes. Her scientific research explores the physics of blazars – supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies that create particle jets moving at nearly the speed of light. In 2014, she became the first African American woman to receive her Ph.D. in Astrophysics from Yale University. Her innovative and award-winning research has been supported by fellowships from the NSF, NASA, and the Ford Foundation.
Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson is a visionary scientist, educator and public policy innovator, and has broken barriers and blazed trails throughout her life Dr. Jackson was one of the first two African-American women to receive a doctorate in physics in the United States and was the first African-American woman to receive a doctorate from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1999, Dr. Jackson became the 18th President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the oldest technological university in the United States, and has led an extraordinary transformation of the school since her arrival through an ambitious strategic initiative known as The Rensselaer Plan.
Mae Carol Jemison As a doctor, engineer, and NASA astronaut, Mae Jemison has always reached for the stars. In 1992, Jemison became the first African American woman to travel in space. She has also written several books and appeared on many television programs including an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. In addition to her many awards, Jemison has been inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame and the International Space Hall of Fame.
Katherine Johnson was a trailblazing mathematician and computer scientist. In 1953, she joined Langley Research Center (LaRC) as a research mathematician for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). Johnson was assigned to the all-male flight research division. Her knowledge made her invaluable to her superiors and her assertiveness won her a spot in previously all-male meetings. NACA became the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1958. Upon leaving The Flight Mechanics Branch, Johnson went on to join the Spacecraft Controls Branch where she calculated the flight trajectory for Alan Shepard, the first American to go into space in 1959. Johnson also verified the mathematics behind John Glenn’s orbit around the Earth in 1962 and calculated the flight trajectory for Apollo 11’s flight to the moon in 1969. She retired from NASA in 1986.
Rosalyn Lapier is an award winning Indigenous writer, ethnobotanist and environmental activist with a BA in physics and PhD in environmental history. She works within Indigenous communities to revitalize Indigenous & traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), to address environmental justice & the climate crisis, and to strengthen public policy for Indigenous languages. Rosalyn is an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Tribe of Montana and Métis.
Wanda Diaz Merced When Wanda Diaz Merced lost her sight in her early 20s, her dreams of studying stars in the visually oriented scientific world suffered a major setback -- until she discovered “sonification,” a way to turn huge data sets into audible sound using pitch, duration and other properties. Merced realized that she could use her ears to detect patterns in stellar radio data, and could uncover connections obscured by graphs and visual representation.
Dr. Sameera Moussa was a world-renowned Egyptian nuclear scientist. Moussa held a doctorate in atomic radiation, specializing in making the medical use of nuclear technology affordable to all. She was the first assistant professor at the Faculty of Sciences at Cairo University, as well as the first woman at the university to hold a university post thanks to her groundbreaking PhD in atomic radiation in the 1940s. Moussa organized the International Atomic Energy for Peace Conference, calling on prominent scientists to create a committee to protect against nuclear hazards, as well as making nuclear treatment more accessible.
Dr. Antonia Novello When appointed Surgeon General of the United States by President George Bush in 1990, she was the first woman—and the first Hispanic—ever to hold that office. Her appointment came after nearly two decades of public service at the National Institutes of Health, where she took a role in drafting national legislation regarding organ transplantation.
Sally Ride was the first American woman in space. She made her journey into history on June 18, 1983. Ride served as the Director of the California Space Science Institute, a research institute of the University of California. She also worked as a physicist and physics professor at the University of California, San Diego. Ride was a member of the President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology and served on the Advisory Board of the National Women's History Museum.
Dr. Chien-Shiung Wu is a pioneer and pivotal figure in the history of physics. An immigrant to the United States from China, she did important work for the Manhattan Project and in experimental physics. Her crucial contribution to particle physics was, however, ignored by the Nobel Prize committee when it awarded the 1957 Nobel Prize in Physics.