2009 WISE Conference Keynote Speaker —

Mary Anne Holmes

Strategies for Career Success:
New Models of Flexibility for Academia

The tenure system of academia evolved to protect freedom of speech for academics when most academics were males with wives taking care of the homefront. Nothing could be simpler than a career path that took you from college through graduate school and into your first job by your early to mid-30s. Take another seven years to earn tenure, and voila! Your career begins in your late 30s! But, when was that family supposed to fit in? New models offer much more flexibility and need to be part of your startup negotiation.

Mary Anne Holmes, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Practice, Department of Geosciences, University of Nebraska - Lincoln and the Director of Advance-Nebraska. She currently serves on the Board for the Women’s and Gender Studies Program at UNL and is actively doing research on the barriers to the advancement of geoscience women in academia. This interest grew out of her serving as President of the Association for Women Geoscientists in 2000-01. She was named a Fellow of the Association for Women in Science (AWIS) in 2008. Dr. Holmes teaches senior/graduate-level courses on Clay Mineralogy and on Sedimentary Core Description, and first-year courses on Physical Geology and Oceanography. She also provides leadership for an active outreach program, working with local teachers and youth-serving organizations, providing students (graduate and undergraduate) great opportunities to explain science to the public.