Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) History of Past Conference Speakers |
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| Year / Conference Title | Speaker / Talk Title / Talk Summary |
| 2008 / Breaking Barriers through Communication | Angie Hill Price, Keynote Speaker Be Careful of What You Say: Someone May Not Be Listening Dr. Angie Hill Price is an Associate Professor in the Manufacturing and Mechanical Program in the Department of Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution at Texas A&M University. She has industrial experience as a welding engineer for Chicago Bridge and Iron and for Grant Prideco SA de CV in Veracruz, Mexico. During her stay in Veracruz, Dr. Price developed quality procedures pertaining to welding, trained welding operators in quality inspection and standards, and supervised the repair of a 15,000 lb forge hammer. Dr. Price currently serves as the Speaker of the TAMU Faculty Senate and as such represents the faculty in all matters of shared governance. She also is the Interim Program Coordinator for the Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering Technology Program and Faculty Advisor for the Texas A&M University Student Chapter of the American Welding Society. Dr. Price also is on various committees and boards at the University including the TAMU Council on Culture and Diversity, the Texas Science Olympiad Board of Directors, and she serves as co-chair of the TAMU Transportation Services Advisory Committee. |
| 2008 / Breaking Barriers through Communication | Elena Castell-Perez, Session Speaker Standing Out at Conferences: The Impressive Poster |
| 2008 / Breaking Barriers through Communication | Leigh Weisshaupt, Session Speaker Why Should We Hire YOU? Selling Yourself and Communicating Your Strengths Leigh Weisshaupt, Campus Recruiting Manager for Intel Corporation, will discuss the importance of presenting yourself well when looking for a job. She will provide tips on 1) communication for career fairs, info sessions, interviewing, 2) the best way to learn more about a company and the importance of networking, even when you are not yet employed by that company, 3) how recruiting and the "system" works at Intel (and probably a lot of other big companies). Ms. Weisshaupt has an MBA from Arizona State University and has been working at Intel for 7 years. She currently is the Campus Recruiting Manager, and as such serves as the recruiting representative for Intel to 6 universities across the US, one of which is Texas A&M. |
| 2008 / Breaking Barriers through Communication | Mary Ann O'Farrell, Session Speaker Boy Was My Face Red: Thinking About the Blush Dr. Mary Ann O'Farrell will explore non-verbal communication, specifically relating to the cultural meanings of blushing, thinking about why and when we sometimes feel blushes are to be expected and why it is we sometimes like to announce that we're undergoing them. Mary Ann O'Farrell is an Associate Professor and Associate Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of English at Texas A&M University. She is the author of "Telling Complexions: The Nineteenth-century English Novel and the Blush" and co-editor of "Virtual Gender: Fantasies of Subjectivity and Embodiment." Her current book project, "A Rhetoric of Jane Austens," examines the uses of Jane Austen in contemporary culture. |
| 2008 / Breaking Barriers through Communication | Carolyn Sumners, Session Speaker Lessons Learned Dr. Carolyn Sumners is Vice President of Astronomy and the Physical Sciences at the Houston Museum of Natural Science and Adjunct Professor in Physics and Astronomy at Rice University. At the Museum, she has taught adults, astronauts, and over a million students. She has written trade books, a textbook series, and over 50 planetarium shows. Her inventions include the Challenger Learning Center, which has been replicated over 50 times, and the portable digital theater. She has also conducted research in archaeoastronomy using the planetarium to replicate the night sky at critical moments in history. Dr. Sumners has also just completed a research program on the effectiveness of informal science experiences on science knowledge and attitudes for inner city students in collaboration with the College of Education at the University of Houston. Dr. Sumners will speak on the challenges and positive aspects of informal science in a Museum setting and communication with an audience that is not an expert in your field. She will draw upon her 37 years experience with the Houston Museum of Natural Science where she has taught over a million students directly, ranging from pre-schoolers to astronauts and has produced programs that have reached millions more. This she considers her most meaningful achievement. |
| 2008 / Breaking Barriers through Communication | Bonnie Charpentier, Session Speaker Effective Networking Communications - Tips and Caveats Networking is a fundamental process in professional development and human relations. Networking is also a term that provokes many misconceptions about effective communication and relationship building. Dr. Charpentier will discuss what works and what doesn’t in effective networking, the role of networking at different career stages, the importance of professional societies in networking, and tools for effective communication and networking. A Texas native, Dr. Charpentier received a BA in anthropology and a Ph.D. in biology from the University of Houston. She worked for a decade as an analytical chemist at the Procter and Gamble Co. in Cincinnati before moving to a career in Regulatory Affairs at Syntex in Palo Alto, California. Following the buy-out of Syntex by Hoffman-LaRoche, Dr. Charpentier rose to the position of Vice President and Regulatory Site Head for Roche Global Development where she participated in development and worldwide approvals for drugs in several therapeutic areas. From 2001-2006 she was Vice President of Regulatory and Quality at Genitope Corporation, a biotechnology company. She is currently VP of Regulatory and Quality at Metabolex, Inc. in Hayward, CA working in the area of treatment of metabolic diseases such as diabetes. Dr. Charpentier has been very active in the American Chemical Society at local and national levels and currently serves on the ACS Board of Directors. |
| 2008 / Breaking Barriers through Communication | Rosana Moreira, Session Speaker Standing Out at Conferences: The Impressive Poster Have you ever presented a poster at a conference attended by thousands of people? Have you experienced the overwhelming feeling of being "one more" of many and having people passing by your poster? Though the topic and content are critical for a good poster, its delivery is essential! Drs. Moreira and Castell-Perez have prepared posters for presentation of their research innumerable times and will give you some tips on how to make yours the one that people remember! |
| 2008 / Breaking Barriers through Communication | Ann Kenimer, Session Speaker Teaching a Tough Audience: Using Effective Communications to Facilitate Learning Whether or not you pursue a career directly related to education, chances are good you will undertake teaching during your professional career. Outside the traditional classroom, teaching may be required as you explain project solutions to clients, conduct public hearings, or mentor new employees. In some cases, your audience will eagerly want your information. Sometimes, though, as with a required course, your audience may not be interested in the content you need to provide. Dr. Ann Kenimer will discuss how effective teaching communications can be used to help you involve and motivate even the toughest audience. Dr. Kenimer is Associate Dean of Academic Operations in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Professor of Biological and Agricultural Engineering. She received much recognition for teaching including the Presidential Professor for Teaching Excellence and the Association of Former Students Distinguished Service from Texas A&M University and the A.W. Farrall Young Educator Award from the Association of Agricultural and Biological Engineers. |
| 2008 / Breaking Barriers through Communication | Suma Datta, Session Speaker Tailoring your presentation to your audience: the art of the talk During the course of our careers, we all need to present our work to a (hopefully admiring and appreciative) audience. But how do we sell our ideas and thus ourselves to disparate groups of administrators, students, and colleagues of different stripes? The key is knowing the technical background of your audience and how to connect your work to their interests. Suma Datta did her graduate work in Biology at the University of California-San Diego. From there she moved across the country to Yale for a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Developmental Neurogenetics before accepting a position in the Departments of Biology and of Biochemistry and Biophysics at Texas A&M. Her research interests include human prostate cancer progression and developing model systems for aging and cancer studies. Suma has spoken at numerous International meetings, University seminar series and Student Organization workshops and meetings. |
| 2008 / Breaking Barriers through Communication | Ruth Schemmer, Session Speaker Mastering Elevator Talk: 30 Seconds to Make Your Case - The University Club Ruth Schemmer has been with the TAMU Career Center since 1999, and has been the Associate Director for Graduate Student Services for 4 years. In addition to one-on-one advising, Ruth has presented numerous workshops for graduate students, including Resume/CV Writing, Interviewing Skills, Networking, and the Academic Job Search. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Southwestern Oklahoma State University, and both a master’s and Ph.D. in Sociology from Texas A&M. |
| 2007 / Bridging the Gap | Christine Stanley, Keynote Speaker Campus Climate for Women and Minorities in Higher Education In her role as Executive Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Professor of Higher Education in the College of Education and Human Development at Texas A&M University, Dr. Stanley is primarily responsible for faculty development, recruitment and retention, promotion and tenure, diversity, and administrator development. An educator, recovering biologist, teacher, consultant, and faculty developer, she has taught courses on college teaching, professional development in higher education, and diversity and social justice in higher education. She is a recent editor of the book Faculty of Color: Teaching in Predominantly White Colleges and Universities and co-editor of Engaging Large Classes: Strategies and Techniques for College Faculty. She is the 2000-2001 recipient of Texas A&M’s College of Education Development Council’s Outstanding New Faculty Award. Prior to joining the faculty at Texas A&M, she was Associate Director of the Office of Faculty and TA Development at The Ohio State University. A native of Jamaica, Dr. Stanley received a B.S. in Biology from Prairie View A&M University, an M.S. in Zoology from Texas A&M University, and a Ph.D. in the College Teaching Cognate area at Texas A&M University. |
| 2007 / Bridging the Gap | Lesia L. Crumpton-Young, Session Speaker Bridging the Gap: The Art of Being True to Yourself Often in today’s society it is difficult to determine what one should do given the many demands and expectations of others within the workplace, our families, and our communities. This workshop will focus on discussing tools and techniques that will assist one in determining what “you really want to do” as well as discuss a strategy that allows you to “do what you really want to do”. Lesia Crumpton-Young received her Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from Texas A&M University. She is currently a Professor of Industrial Engineering and Management Systems Development at the University of Central Florida. |
| 2007 / Bridging the Gap | Cindy Fang, Session Speaker Achieving the American Dream The dream of a successful career and a happy family life is defined by many as the “American Dream.” Is it possible to achieve this without feeling guilty for working on one but not the other? Is it possible that we can have it all? Dr. Cindy Fang a mother of three with a successful career at Chevron, will share her experiences balancing the dual roles of responsibilities of motherhood and a demanding career. |
| 2007 / Bridging the Gap | Helen Reed, Session Speaker Establishing Career Development Opportunities in Science and Engineering Dr. Helen Reed, Head of the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Texas A&M University, will discuss career development opportunities: moving smoothly from the classroom to the job market. To foster this transition Dr. Reed established AggieSat Lab in March 2005. This program bridges the gap between an engineering education and real out-of-this-world projects. Their missions demonstrate and develop modern technologies by utilizing a nanosatellite platform while educating students and enriching the undergraduate experience. |
| 2007 / Bridging the Gap | Candace Coyle, Session Speaker Research vs. Service – Serving Two Masters? Is it possible to be successful in academia as both a researcher and an asset to the community? With the growing stresses associated with the tenure-track positions in chemistry, it can be somewhat daunting to excel in research while still maintaining a balance to serve the community and students. Is it possible to acheive success in both? Dr. Candace M. Coyle, an Assistant Professor in Chemistry at University of Texas San Antonio, will share her experiences of balancing the dual roles of researcher and contributor to several university and community organizations throughout the San Antonio area. |
| 2007 / Bridging the Gap | Tarla Peterson, Session Speaker Dispelling the Either/Or Threat with the Both/And Promise At the beginning of the 21st Century, women still struggle to justify their right to simultaneously function as professional scientists and retain legitimate personhood beyond their professional identity. Although all life includes tradeoffs, those tradeoffs do not necessarily translate into being EITHER a successful professional scientist OR a whole human being. Rather, wise tradeoffs should direct us into paths that allow us to be successful BOTH as professional scientists AND whatever else we choose. Dr. Tarla Peterson is a Professor in Wildlife and Conservation Policy at Texas A&M University. |
| 2007 / Bridging the Gap | Nicole Perez Stedman, Session Speaker Leading Change in Your Personal and Professional Life Do you ever wonder how some individuals seem unfazed by changes taking place around them? This workshop will address many of the issues and concerns individuals have with change in their lives. Specifically, models of leading change from personal and professional contexts will be discussed in an interactive forum. Nicole Perez Stedman received a Ph.D. in Agricultural Leadership from the University of Florida. She is currently an Assistant Professor in the Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communications Department at Texas A&M University. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses; her focus of research is leadership education with an emphasis in critical thinking and emotional intelligence. |
| 2006 / Goals for Success | Elsa Murano, Keynote Speaker Perspectives on leadership in a changing world Dr. Elsa Murano was appointed Vice Chancellor and Dean, Agriculture and Life Sciences and Director, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station at Texas A&M University on January 3, 2005. In 2001, Dr. Murano was appointed Undersecretary for Food Safety, U.S. Department of Agriculture, by President George W. Bush. Dr. Murano served as the highest ranking food safety official in the U.S. government with the responsibility of overseeing the policies and programs of the Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS). Prior to this appointment, Dr. Murano was appointed professor in the Department of Animal Science at Texas A&M University after having been associate professor in that same department since 1995. She was awarded the Sadie Hatfield Professorship in Agriculture in 2000. Also while at Texas A&M University, Dr. Murano served as director of the Center for Food Safety within the Institute of Food Science and Engineering from 1997 to 2001 and associate director from 1995 to 1997. Dr. Murano served as professor in charge of research programs at the Linear Accelerator Facility at Iowa State University from 1992 to 1995. She was an assistant professor in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Preventative Medicine at Iowa State University from 1990 to 1995 A native of Havana, Cuba, Dr. Murano received her B.S. in biological sciences from Florida International University. She received her M.S. in anaerobic microbiology and Ph.D. in food science and technology from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. She resides in Bryan, TX with her husband Dr. Peter S. Murano. |
| 2006 / Goals for Success | Mary Krenceski, Session Speaker A Career “At the Bench”: Can It Really Be Done? Almost everyone starts their career in science with emphasis on their technical skills and experimental work. With time, many people shift into management or other positions that take them farther and farther away from their technical expertise. Does a dual career ladder (technical vs. managerial) really exist? Is it possible to have a rewarding career and keep a primarily technical role? The choice really belongs to the individual. Various aspects of a non-managerial, technical career path will be discussed including the advantages and disadvantages, particularly in career choices for women. Mary Krenceski holds a B.S. in Chemistry from Siena College and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Connecticut in Materials (Polymer) Science. She has worked at Eastman Kodak Company in Rochester, NY and at several different businesses within General Electric in the Albany, NY area. An industrial sabbatical took her to the Institut für Makromolekulare Chemie, Freiburg, Germany for a year. She is currently a Senior Materials Scientist at the GE Global Research Center in Niskayuna, NY. Mary has been “at the bench”, by choice, for 25 years! |
| 2006 / Goals for Success | Susan Morrissey, Session Speaker Alternative Careers in Science: Science Journalism Pursuing an advanced degree in science or engineering does not predestine one to working in a traditional academic or industrial setting. Alternatives to traditional career paths do exist and have grown in popularity over the years. This talk will investigate some of these alternatives with a focus on science journalism. Specifically, the talk will discuss what it’s like to work on the weekly newsmagazine, Chemical & Engineering News. Susan Morrissey is an Associate Editor at Chemical & Engineering News—a weekly magazine published by the American Chemical Society. Currently she writes in the area of science policy. She holds an A.B. in chemistry from Franklin & Marshall College (1995) and a Ph.D., also in chemistry, from Texas A&M University (1999). |
| 2006 / Goals for Success | Amber Hinkle, Session Speaker Definition of Success Dr. Amber Hinkle, a research scientist in the Plastics Laboratory at Bayer Material Science, will discuss how success is defined for many professionals in the scientific field today. It will also show the many faces of successful women in the sciences and highlight success stories of women scientists. Dr. Hinkle will talk about the challenges, positive influences, and personal aspirations that have helped shape their individual careers. The diverse professional choices they have made and the range of innovative strategies they have employed guarantee their stories will provide inspiration for anyone interested in achieving success in the sciences - or any technical field. |
| 2006 / Goals for Success | Carolyn Ribes, Session Speaker Strategies for Success in Industry Carolyn Ribes, Ph.D., a Process Analyst for The Dow Chemical Company will discuss networking, mentoring, and essential competencies for success (teamwork, interpersonal effectiveness, learning, leadership, etc). Dr. Ribes has been a member of the Analytical Sciences/Core R&D group for 16 years. As a Technical Leader, her responsibilities include developing and implementing technology for global manufacturing plants and identifying opportunities for measurements to improve process reliability and product properties. She has served as Chair of the Women Chemists Committee of the American Chemical Society. Carolyn earned her Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry in 1989 from the University at Buffalo, SUNY. |
| 2006 / Goals for Success | Manda Rosser, Session Speaker The Leader In You In today's society the word leadership is used to mean many things. This session will be an interactive way to learn about the qualities of leadership and followership. You will discover things about your own leadership traits and how to use them. Manda H. Rosser received a Ph.D. in Human Resource Development at Texas A&M University. She has extensive experience in developing young professionals and working with organizations to initiate positive change. She currently works at Texas A&M University as an assistant professor in the Department of Agriculture Leadership, Education, and Communication where she is teaching and researching leadership and individual development. |
| 2006 / Goals for Success | Kayleen Helms, Session Speaker Time Management for Successful Life Balance Searching for balance in life is one of today’s biggest problems for many women pursuing technical career paths. Many career-focused men also face this challenge; however, their communication and work styles/approaches typically help them avoid the “super woman” trap which engulfs many women. Both genders deal with this conflict daily as today’s lifestyle demands have never-ending “To Do” lists, etc. Dr. Kayleen L. E. Helms, the mechanics technical liaison with Intel Corporation, will focus on several key aspects of this struggle for balance and provide advice gained through many years of “juggling”. She will make suggestions on what might be done to achieve a comfortable LIFE balance of career, family, friends, hobbies, and “ME” time! Dr. Helms has an unusual background in that she held a wide range of jobs from Banquet Manager to Statistical Accountant (and sometimes three jobs at a time!) while she supported a disabled parent and financed 100% of her engineering education. |
| 2005 / From Thriving to Surviving | Sharon Nunes, Keynote Speaker 21st Century careers: who will be in demand for our on-demand world? |
| 2005 / From Thriving to Surviving | Karen Kubena, Session Speaker A Career in 21st Century Academia Dr. Karen Kubena will discuss the challenges and joys of being a faculty member at a major research institution. She will share her personal strategies for balancing the demands of an academic career with the rest of one's life. There are many choices to be made as an academic – learn which ones she made and about any second thoughts she may have had! Karen is a professor within the Human Nutrition Section in the Department of Animal Science, as well as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. |
| 2005 / From Thriving to Surviving | Jane Schielack, Session Speaker A Grant is not something you GET -- it's something you do All university faculty are encouraged to "get grant funding." It is well-known that applying for and obtaining outside funding are important components of "surviving" in our academic settings, but how can these activities contribute to "thriving?" In this session, Dr. Jane F. (Janie) Scheilack, a professor in the department of Mathamatics at Texas A&M University, will discuss aspects that are important to consider before, during, and after grant writing and implementation in order to make the experience one that not only satisfies job expectations, but also contributes to profressional growth and enjoyment. Dr. Schielack is currently a Co-PL and Project Director of the NSF-funded Information Technology in Science (ITS) center for Teaching and Learning, a joint project between the Colleges of Science and Eduaction that seeks to replentish the nation's supply of science education specialists through team-led, learner-centered opportunities involving scientists, mathematicians, education researchers, and education practitioners. |
| 2005 / From Thriving to Surviving | Elizabeth Freeland, Session Speaker Coping with and Supporting Career Breaks in the Sciences Dr. Freeland received her Ph.D. in condensed matter physics from The Johns Hopkins University in 1996. She is married to a physicist and has two children. Currently she holds an adjunct teaching position and collaborates with physicists at Fermi National Accelerator Lab outside of Chicago. Her current research interest is the numerical calculation of coefficients related to quark-quark interactions in order to study the weak interaction of the Standard Model of particle physics. Her talk will focus on career-breaks: avoiding them, taking them, and how to get back "in". She will also promote discussion on whether or not career-breaks should be more acceptable in science and academic career paths and what institutions might do to make them so. |
| 2005 / From Thriving to Surviving | Elizabeth Piocos, Session Speaker Dual Career, Motherhood and Technical Competence: Thriving in Industrial R&D |
| 2005 / From Thriving to Surviving | DonnaJean Fredeen, Session Speaker Navigating a Career in the Academy, How to Insure a Pleasant Journey As the completion of graduate school draws near, the career opportunities may sometimes appear to be daunting. A decision ro pursue or not pursue a career in academicsmost often is based upon the impression of the academy created by the gradutate school experience. Such an impression is certainly skewed, given that most graduate school expriences occur at Research Extensive Universities. This Presentation will explore all of the options available when choosing a career in academics including mapping the best journey, the detours to consider and the potholes to avoid. |
| 2005 / From Thriving to Surviving | Karan Watson, Session Speaker Recharging Your Batteries: Maintaining a Personal Life With the Rigors of Research, Teaching, and Service Scholars often lament that there is little or too little time to keep up with all the demands of the job, leaving no time to have and/or maintain a personal life amongst the pressures and demands of teaching, research, and service responsibilities. In this session, Watson, Dean of Faculties and Associate Provost at Texas A&M University, will focus on frameworks for recognizing the need and then to "recharge your internal batteries." |
| 2004 / Taking Care of Yourself | Vivian Pinn, Keynote Speaker The Women's Health Challenge: Take the Initiative |
| 2004 / Taking Care of Yourself | Nancy Algert, Session Speaker Finding Your Career Passion |
| 2004 / Taking Care of Yourself | Linda A. Guarino, Session Speaker Getting Funded |
| 2004 / Taking Care of Yourself | Judith Baer, Session Speaker The Mother, the State, and the Workplace |
| 2004 / Taking Care of Yourself | Becky Allee, Session Speaker The Road to Success |
| 2004 / Taking Care of Yourself | Donna J. Nelson, Session Speaker Title IX Isn't Just a Sports Law |
| 2003 / Access to Success | Beverly Hartline, Keynote Speaker Advancing Women in Science and Engineering Women are underrepresented in physical science and engineering professions in nearly all countries. They become scarcer as their level of education and responsibility rises. |
| 2003 / Access to Success | Patricia LiWang, Session Speaker Selling Yourself in Words and Deeds: Tips on Grant Writing and Seminar Preparation Regardless of the economic climate, obtaining money to carry out scientific and engineering work is always very challenging and requires strong justification both in writing and speaking. |
| 2003 / Access to Success | Tamy Frank, Session Speaker Changing Careers & Knowing You Can Make That Choice Whether you are choosing a career for the first time or have discovered that you dislike the career choice you have made, you are sometimes faced with difficult career decisions and choices of your life. |
| 2003 / Access to Success | Dawn Mason, Session Speaker The Industrial Highway: One Scientist's Road Trip |
| 2003 / Access to Success | Theresa A. Maldonado, Session Speaker Hey, What Did You Mean By That? Being a female in the predominately male field of electrical engineering can lead to experiences involving cultural misunderstandings and downright offensive behavior. At the same time, rewarding, enriching experiences and productivity can arise due to gender diversity in the work environment. Well, then, where are all the women? |
| 2003 / Access to Success | Debra Rolison, Session Speaker A Time to Thrive: Accumulating Advantage for Women in Science and Engineering Science and engineering departments need more women as faculty. Most of our research universities now recognize the importance of a diversified student body, but this recognition is not yet reflected in their caculty pool. Similar difficulties are apparent among the staff of National and Federal laboratories. |
| 2003 / Access to Success | Leigh Turner, Session Speaker Choices and Opportunities: The Empowered Job-Seeker All too often, job-seekers feel that their careers, and, indeed their lives, are out of their control as they compete for jobs, conform to accepted interviewing practices, and sekk to decipher job descriptions. It's important to remember, though, that you are in control, you do have choices, and the skills that have served you well in the classroom will also serve you well in the job search! |
| 2002 / Women in Transition | Julie Thomas, Session Speaker As women in science, we face challenges in going from college student, to young professional, to wife, and then mother -- although not necessarily in that order. Diana Fuentes recently put aside her career to be at home with her first child and pursue an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering. Diana will speak about the many ways that women can re-invent themselves to keep doing what they love and believe in. Diana was valedictorian of a small high school in an area where 50% of entering freshmen did not make it to graduation. She attended GMI Engineering & Management Institute in Flint, MI with the help of various organizations including the DuPont Minority Scholarship. She received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Industrial Chemistry. Diana's first job out of college was in a sand mine in Northern Virginia where she was the only female employee. She was most recently an Equipment Engineer for Texas Instruments-Dallas. |
| 2002 / Women in Transition | Gloria Montano, Session Speaker Graduate school in the sciences and a career in research pose a stress beyond that of tackling a difficult challenge. Unlike many ambitious career paths, the road to a science PhD and later success has few landmarks to let you know how you are progressing. The ability to objectively assess your qualifications, productivity, and suitability for various career options is an important skill to develop. This talk will focus on the importance of developing perspective in assessing your accomplishments relative to those around you. Dr. Susan Golden is a Professor in the Department of Biology at TAMU, where she directs a laboratory that studies the mechanisms of the 24-hour biological (circadian) clock in cyanobacteria. Editor of the Journal of Bacteriology, she is a member of the American Academy of Microbiology. |
| 2002 / Women in Transition | Marlene Zuk, Session Speaker We're all planning on earning our degrees and waltzing off into the sunset to save our own little research-related corner of the world, right? But what if (*gasp* and perish the thought!) things don't go quite as we plan? Here are some suggestions that aren't usually part of the Scientist or Engineers career guide. Julie Thomas obtained her Ph.D. in Chemistry (computational inorganic) from Texas A&M University under Professor Michael Hall in 1997. Since graduating she has conducted research in synthetic carborane chemistry and chemical warfare defense. She has also worked as a church secretary and headhunter. She is currently a UNIX Systems Administrator with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). She is married and lives in Elgin, Texas with two dogs, two cats, and a fish. |
| 2002 / Women in Transition | Susan Golden, Session Speaker People have always looked to animals as illustrations and models of behavior. With respect to gender, animals are used in two ways, both of which can be detrimental to our understanding of the animals as well as ourselves. Marlene Zuk is a professor at the University of California, Riverside. Dr. Zuk earned her B.A. in 1977 from the University of California, Santa Barbara, her M.S. in 1983 from the University of Michigan and her Ph.D. in 1986 from the University of Michigan. Marlene is an elected Fellow of AAAS and is an honorary member of the Golden Key Honor Society. |
| 2002 / Women in Transition | Missy Cummings, Session Speaker Missy Cummings, one of the Navy's first female fighter pilots, will talk about her experiences as an aviation pioneer, her transformation from a small town southern belle to a woman of strength, and the importance of conquering fears. Mary (Missy) Cummings received her B.S. in Mathematics from the United States Naval Academy in 1988 and her M.S. in Space Systems Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in 1994. She spent ten years in the Navy. While in the Navy, she also worked as an assistant program manager in a Navy industrial engineering plant. Her previous teaching experience includes instructing for the U.S. Navy at Pennyslvania State University, and most recently as an assistant professor for the Virginia Tech Engineering Fundamentals Division. She is now a doctoral student in the University of Virginia Systems Engineering department. |
| 2002 / Women in Transition | Barbara Parker, Session Speaker It's time to put that education to work and begin your career... but where do you start? Want ads? Internet sites? Head hunters? Which are the most effective methods in a slow economy and how can they be best utilized? What should you be looking for before and during an interview to determine the right place for you? How should your personal goals, interests and family situation factor into your job searching process? How much room is there to negotiate when you receive an offer? When is it time to start looking again for that next career opportunity? Ms Barbara Parker, Product Manager of Flex Products, will be presenting tips and tools for getting, enjoying and excelling at that first, second and even third job! |
| 2001 / Achieving Your Vision | Wilma Subra, Keynote Speaker Using Science to Educate and Empower Communities |
| 2001 / Achieving Your Vision | Janice Swanson, Session Speaker Surviving the "Dog Days" of Graduate School |
| 2001 / Achieving Your Vision | Pat Slaven, Session Speaker Changing Careers in Engineering |
| 2001 / Achieving Your Vision | Elizabeth Hood, Session Speaker Riding the Waves |
| 2001 / Achieving Your Vision | Judy St. John, Session Speaker The Path from Bench Scientist to Agricultural Administrator |
| 2001 / Achieving Your Vision | Laurel Canglose, Session Speaker Non-Verbal Communication: Maintaining Composure in a 'Threatening' Work Environment |
| 2001 / Achieving Your Vision | Nancy Amato, Session Speaker How to Get Out of Graduate School in a Timely Fashion |
| 2000 / Finding the Balance | Karan Watson, Keynote Speaker |
| 2000 / Finding the Balance | Glenda Humiston, Session Speaker |
| 2000 / Finding the Balance | Kathryn Kaiser, Session Speaker |
| 2000 / Finding the Balance | Geraldine Richmond, Session Speaker |
| 2000 / Finding the Balance | Helene Dillard, Session Speaker |
| 2000 / Finding the Balance | Nancy Algert, Session Speaker |
| 2000 / Finding the Balance | Carol Dudley, Session Speaker |
| 1999 / Creating A Positive Career Experience | Stephanie Bird, Keynote Speaker Mentoring in Professional Development: What You Need to Know |
| 1999 / Creating A Positive Career Experience | Katherine Bennett Ensor, Session Speaker Concentrate on Your Work and Everything Will Fall into Place The role of the Research professor is evolving in both expectations and opprotunities. How can you capitalize on your intellectual and creatif talents? |
| 1999 / Creating A Positive Career Experience | Normita Elpano, Session Speaker Enhancing Career Advancement: Taking Charge Do your colleagues seem to be getting better research projects? Are you tired of watching others receive more attention for less work? Are you frustrated with rejection letters every time you send out a resume? |
| 1999 / Creating A Positive Career Experience | Caroline Herzenberg, Session Speaker Advances in Science: Discoveries by Women Throughout recorded history, most individuals engaged in science have been men, and generally women scienctists have been rare until quite recently. However, women have engaged in scientific studies since antiquity, and have accomplished a great deal in contributing to scentific progress, ain some instances under conditions of considerable adversity. A quick overview of women's participation in sceince will seque into description and discussion of some examples from the many hudreds of cases of important scientific discoveries made by women in all fields of science. |
| 1999 / Creating A Positive Career Experience | Elena Castell-Perez, Session Speaker Striking at Another: Avoiding Extremes When we are emotionally attached to a conflict, it is very hard to get a balanced perspective. Conflict is a natural process, a creative and dynamic force that can move a person to new levels of understanting. Specific examples of conflict and their positive resolution will demonstrate the constructive power of positive thingking and positive attitude. |
| 1999 / Creating A Positive Career Experience | Pat Lawman, Session Speaker The Meaning of Life: A Somewhat Distorted Commentary on the Ultimate Quest The purpose of this exercise is to bring us closer to understanding the significance and importance of this quest in our technology driven world. The seminar will draw upon unoriginal thoughts, the personal experiences of a renegade scientist in her search for answers, and from audience members willing to share their experiences |
| 1999 / Creating A Positive Career Experience | Deborah Hess, Session Speaker Your Turn - My Turn: The Two Career Couple |
| 1999 / Creating A Positive Career Experience | Lesia Crumpton, Session Speaker The Art of Projecting a Positive Self Image: Being Your Own Press Agent Prior research and everyday experience have demonstrated that image plays an important role in determining success. Often, very little attention is given to the type of image that we project by our verbal and non-verbal clues. |
| 1998 / Designing Your Career | Sallie Sheppard, Keynote Speaker |
| 1998 / Designing Your Career | Cleora J. D'Arcy, Session Speaker What is Professionalism and How do You Learn It? As you work on a graduate degree you learn a lot of technical information, but how do you learn to BE a professional? How do you learn to get and keep a position, to communicate your knowledge to others, to secure funding for your work and to do all of this in an ethical manner? How do you learn the pitfalls of "the sytstem"? |
| 1998 / Designing Your Career | Temple Grandin, Session Speaker Visual Thinking: Getting in Through the Back Door |
| 1998 / Designing Your Career | Lesia Crumpton, Session Speaker Smart Moves for Smart Women Successfully negotiating job offers in academia/industry can be a difficult task. Also, understanding the tenure and promotion process can be more difficult and confusing. |
| 1998 / Designing Your Career | Margaret Davidson, Session Speaker Observations of a Lawyer Working with Scientists The role of women int eh scientific community has always been complicated and challenging. Just imagine moving around as a "Science manager" without a doctoral degree! |
| 1998 / Designing Your Career | Jewel Prestage, Session Speaker Social Skills/Coping Skills: Addressing the Issues through Leadership and Scholarship Women in male-dominated fields must develop the social competence needed to survive while simultaneously expanding the academic/intellectual dimensions of their lives. |
| 1998 / Designing Your Career | Evelyn Tiffany-Castiglioni, Session Speaker Outsmarting Entropy: Organizing the Absent Minded Professor |
| 1997 / Adapting to a Changing World | Frances Cordova, Keynote Speaker |
| 1997 / Adapting to a Changing World | Carolyn Hunsaker, Session Speaker Professional Societies: A Building Block in your Career You may view professional societies as something to join because of their publications and reduced conference registration fees. Let's face it, it looks good to have at least one on your resume. Carolyn Hunsaker, D.Eng. From Oak Ridge National Laboratory, will show us that the real power of professional societies lies elsewhere. It includes the people you meet )potential mentors), the information you can learn both about your discipline and about how science works (new information and ways of thinking), the experience and opportunities you gain by being involved in committees and the organization of the society and its direction (management experience, certification, publications), and the influence you can have on science policy since many societies testify before Congress. Dr. Hunsaker will touch on her own experiences to illustrate the importance of participating in furthering your career. |
| 1997 / Adapting to a Changing World | Karan Watson, Session Speaker Women Competing in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Workforce Studies have been done on the contrast in performance of women with respect to men in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workforce. The data shows, that even when the low number of women in these areas is accounted for, the productivity of the women in these fields as a group appears significantly lower than that of the men as a group. The reasons for this difference are hotly debated. Even what is being used to measure productivity has been debated. Much of the conflict has focused on how women perform in highly competitive environments. Dr. Karan Watson, Associate Dean of the College of Engineering at Texas A&M University, will examine the cultural impacts on competition and its value to high levels of achievement in the STEM workplace. She will also discuss how women are really performing in these enfironments and what they should understand about the measxurement of productivity. Dr. Watson is an absolute favorite of students -- both in the classroom and as an advisor for many student organizations. |
| 1997 / Adapting to a Changing World | Jaleh Daie, Session Speaker A Room of your Own: At the Top! While in some scientific fields women have been filling the educational pipeline, and swelling the lower professional ranks in proportionate numbers, they remain almost invisible at the top in governement, academia and industry. Huge gaps remain between women's qualifications and their career aspirations. Jaleh Daie, Ph.D. will discuss a persisting problem for women scientists: the Power/Status Gap. The presentation will addres questions such as what are the reasons? Who is responsible? What can we do collectively? And what are future trends? Dr. Daie is national president of the Association for Women in Science (AWIS) and has recently been appointed the USDA Science Liaison to the President's National Science and Technology Council (NSTC). She is on leave from the University of Wisconsin - Madison, where she is a professor of Botany. |
| 1997 / Adapting to a Changing World | Nancy Algert, Session Speaker Communications and Conflict Resolution in the Workplace: Awareness Workshop Academic and corporate climates are challenging for all people, but women have the additional stress of balancing what their profession demands and the burdens culture and society have placed on them. Nancy Algert, currenly completing her doctoral degree in Educational Psychology at Texas A&M, will address: 1) defining conflickt and how we traditionally manage it; 2) our own personal style of handling conflict; 3) understanding how our professional colleagues handle conflict; 4) managing conflict and hwy it is important; 5) how communication improves when conflict is addressed and processed productively, and 6) how, through improved communication, an individual can work mor productively with a group, thus improving group success. Ms. Algert has a Master's in couseling and is a Licensed Professional Counselor in the State of Texas. She has a private practice where she conducts mediations and conflict resolution training programs. |
| 1997 / Adapting to a Changing World | Karen Butler, Session Speaker How to Get Your Research Funded Perhaps one of the biggest "holes" in graduate education is the lack of information about how to get start-up money and continue your research. Funding for research promises to be even more difficult in the year 2000 and beyond. In her presentation, Karen Butler, Ph.D., assistant professor of Electrical Engineering at Texas A&M University, will tackle the issue of how to get your share. She will discuss research funding for graduate students and for professors. Tips on appropriate format and style will be offered. |
| 1997 / Adapting to a Changing World | Marlene Zuk, Session Speaker Sex Differences and Evolution: Notes from a Darwinian Feminist Dr. Marlene Zuk, associate professor at the University of California, Riverside, is a behavioral ecologist studying the evolution of sexual behavior and sex-specific traits. She is also a feminist interested in social justice for women. How are these two areas related? After giving a brief history of sexual selection, the studey of sexual differences and their evolution, she will examine the ways in which a feminist perspective changes or adds to our views on males and females. Focusing mainly on studies of animal behavior, Dr. Zuk will show how recent questioning of old assumptions has led to a shift from the stereotype of the passive, invariant female to a recognition of issues such as multiple mating by females, female control over paternity, and the value of examining menstruation in an adaptive context. Using evolution to understand behavior is not incompatible with feminist principles, and feminism has much to offer to the study of how males and females differ. |
| 1996 / Making A Place For Yourself | Mary Good, Keynote Speaker The Changing Nature of Careers in Science and Technology |
| 1996 / Making A Place For Yourself | William B. Smith, Session Speaker Ethics and the Individual Researcher William B. Smith, Ph.D., is professor of statistics and Executive Associate Dean of the College of Science at Texas A&M University. He has received the H.O. Hartley and D.B. Owen awards, as well as a university level Association of Former Students Teaching Award. Dr. Smith will offer an overview of ethical and traditional conduct in academe and draw comparisons to the recently revised TAMU policy on ethics in research and scholarships. Thought provoking expamples will be discussed with conference participants. |
| 1996 / Making A Place For Yourself | Laura Fergerson, Session Speaker Contributing as the Only Woman in the Room You've been there. You enter a meeting and find you are the only female present. The difference is noted immediately by all present and the mental score cards come out. The pressure is on to prove you are as capable as your male colleagues. What approach do you take? Do you state your opinion at every opportunity? Or do you sit back quitely and try to blend into the background? In this talk, Dr. Laura Ferguson, a research scientist with Connaught Laboratory, offers advice on how to handle this situation to your benefit. |
| 1996 / Making A Place For Yourself | Audrey Seldon, Session Speaker Gender Bias in the Workplace -- It's in the Bag Management challenges have changed over the past 20 years. While we continue to combat racial and ethnic discrimination, gender bias is still evident. If we examine what positions women hold and what they are paid, we see improvement but significant challenges remain, particularly for women in technological fields. Associate Commissioner Audrey Selden will present strategies women in these fields can use to combat gender bias in the workplace. Ms. Selden is a graduate of the Harvard School of Law, a former Texas Assistant Secretary of State and presently is with the Texas Department of Insurance. |
| 1996 / Making A Place For Yourself | Lesia Crumpton, Session Speaker Negotiating What You Want In Your Next Position There is a lot to lose if you are not properly prepared to negotiate the terms of employment when starting a new position. Lesia Crumpton '88, Ph.D., assistant professor of industrial engineering at Mississippi State University, will discuss how to determine what is needed for success in your next position and strategies on how to obtain it. Some of the issues addressed will include prioritizing your needs, determining which points of your offer are negotiable, and how to get the best package for you. She will discuss her own experiences negotiating her recent faculty start-up package at Mississippi State. |
| 1996 / Making A Place For Yourself | Kathryn Peek, Session Speaker Your Best Food Forward: The Science of Self-Promotion |
| 1996 / Making A Place For Yourself | Helen Free, Session Speaker Of Course, You Can Be A Successful Woman Scientist |
| 1995 / Breaking Barriers Through Communications | Christine Krohn, Session Speaker Communication Skills for Industrial Scientists |
| 1995 / Breaking Barriers Through Communications | Heidi Hammel, Session Speaker Fabulous Presentations: Why You Should Give Them and How To Do It Because women are underrepresented in most fields of science, they can't help but be noticed. They are noticed in particular when they give presentations at scientific conferences. Therefore it is critical that women learn how to make presentations |
| 1995 / Breaking Barriers Through Communications | Marcetta Darensbourg, Session Speaker Writing for Publication and Funding |
| 1995 / Breaking Barriers Through Communications | Walt Magnussen, Session Speaker The Information Superhighway: What Can It Do For Your and How You Get On It |
| 1995 / Breaking Barriers Through Communications | Susan Basow, Session Speaker Student Evaluations of College Professors: When Gender Matters |
| 1995 / Breaking Barriers Through Communications | Jean Cishek, Session Speaker Women, Communications, and Success: Equalizing the Male-Dominant Workplace |
| 1995 / Breaking Barriers Through Communications | Linda Putnam, Session Speaker Communication, Negotiation and Conflict Management Skills |
| 1995 / Breaking Barriers Through Communications | Mark Knapp, Session Speaker Non-Verbal Communication |
| 1995 / Breaking Barriers Through Communications | Kathryn Peek, Session Speaker Networking 101: Basic Skills for Women Since building a successful career in science is as much a social process as a work-related process, professional networking is a critical component of career advancement. In addition, networking enhances both personal and professional aspects of one's life and increases one's influence, position and quality of life. |
| 1995 / Breaking Barriers Through Communications | Penelope Kegel-Flom, Session Speaker Is Leadership for Me? |