Biographies

Keynote Speaker

The Honorable Shirley Ann Jackson, Ph.D. , the 18th President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, and Hartford, CT, the oldest technological research university in the U.S., has held senior leadership positions in government, industry, research, and academe.

Dr. Jackson is immediate past President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and currently Chairman of the AAAS Board of Directors, a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Physical Society, and has advisory roles and involvement in other prestigious national organizations. She serves as a Trustee of the Brookings Institution, a Life Member of the M.I.T Corporation, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She is a member of the Executive Committee of the Council on Competitiveness and serves on the boards of Georgetown University and Rockefeller University. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the New York Stock Exchange, and is a director of several major corporations.

She was appointed Chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), 1995-1999, by U.S. President William J. Clinton. Prior to that, she was a theoretical physicist at the former AT&T Bell Laboratories and a professor of theoretical physics at Rutgers University.

She holds an S.B. in physics and a Ph.D. in theoretical elementary particle physics from M.I.T., and 31 honorary doctoral degrees.

Plenary Speaker

"Short of the handful of female Nobel Laureates, no American woman has reached higher in the international world of science than Rita Rossi Colwell, the immediate Past-Director of the National Science Foundation, now Chairman of Canon US Life Sciences, Inc., a subsidiary of the corporate giant, Canon, Inc. She has also served as head of the University of Maryland’s Biotechnology Institute and president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. A trained microbiologist, geneticist and oceanographer, Dr. Colwell’s ongoing research on Vibrio cholerae has helped dispel misconceptions about the bacterium, including its natural habitat, temperature-dependence, how it travels around the world, how it is transmitted to humans, and what simple steps can be taken to control it. When her early findings were disbelieved and her insights resisted, for decades, she persevered. In Bangladesh where much of her research has focused, Dr. Colwell has demonstrated a clear correlation between sea surface temperature and the periodicity of cholera outbreaks. Considerate and compassionate about the plight of the poor who cannot afford the Western kinds of water sanitation systems, she has worked tirelessly to promote simple water filtration as an interim method, using old sari cloth, folded eight times, to prevent cholera. Water filtration using humble sari cloth is saving lives. Cholera epidemics can be controlled." (Excerpt taken from Diaz-Sprague, Raquel. (2004, Summer) Amazing Career, Amazing Grace An Interview with Rita Colwell. AWIS Magazine, pp. 20-21.

Panel Speakers

Dr. Sue Rosser, panel chair, Dean of the Ivan Alan College of Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology

Sue Rosser received her Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1973. Since July 1999, she has served as Dean of Ivan Allen College, the liberal arts college at Georgia Institute of Technology, where she is also Professor of History, Technology, and Society. From 1995-1999, she was Director for the Center for Women’s Studies and Gender Research and Professor of Anthropology at the University of Florida-Gainesville. In 1995, she was Senior Program Officer for Women’s Programs at the National Science Foundation. From 1986 to 1995 she served as Director of Women’s Studies at the University of South Carolina, where she also was a Professor of Family and Preventive Medicine in the Medical School.

She has edited collections and written approximately 115 journal articles on the theoretical and applied problems of women and science and women’s health. Author of the books Teaching Science and Health from a Feminist Perspective: A Practical Guide (1986), Feminism within the Science and Health Care Professions: Overcoming Resistance (1988), Female-Friendly Science (1990) from Pergamon Press, Feminism and Biology: A Dynamic Interaction (1992) from Twayne Macmillan, Women’s Health: Missing from U.S. Medicine (1994) from Indiana University Press, and Teaching the Majority (1995), Re-engineering Female Friendly Science (1997), and Women, Science, and Society: The Crucial Union (2000) from Teachers College Pres, her latest book is The Science Glass Ceiling: Struggles of Academic Women Scientists (2004) from Routledge.. She also served as the Latin and North American Co-editor of Women’s Studies International Forum from 1989-1993 and currently serves on the editorial boards of NWSA Journal, Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering and Women’s Studies Quarterly. She has held several grants from the National Science Foundation, including "A USC System Model for Transformation of Science and Math Teaching to Reach Women in Varied Campus Settings" and "POWRE Workshop"; she currently serves as co-PI on a $3.7 million ADVANCE grant from NSF. During the fall of 1993, she was Visiting Distinguished Professor for the University of Wisconsin System Women in Science Project

Margaret E. Ashida, Director, University Talent Programs, International Business Machines Corporation

Margaret Ashida is the director of university talent programs for IBM. She provides leadership across IBM in attracting and recruiting top talent from colleges and universities through on-campus programs, Project View and other recruiting events, and the Extreme Blue internship program. She was a member of the Skills Working Group of the National Innovation Initiative led by the U.S. Council on Competitiveness in 2004. Margaret is a member of IBM’s Asian Executive Task Force and graduate of the LEAP (Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics Inc.) Leadership Development Program. She is also a member of the Board of Trustees for the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology, chairs the MentorNet Advisory Board, and is a member of IBM’s Women in Technology Executive Advisory Committee. Her background includes experience in operational analysis, financial planning, customer support operations, marketing operations, e-business, and university relations at IBM, the ROLM Company, and the Xerox Corporation. Margaret holds a B.A. from the University of Rochester and is an honorary member of the University’s Trustees’ Council. She also holds an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Dr. Carol Muller, Executive Director, MentorNet

Carol B. Muller, Ph.D., is the founder and CEO of MentorNet (www.MentorNet.net), the E-Mentoring Network for Women in Engineering and Science, a nonprofit organization, and consulting associate professor of mechanical engineering at Stanford University. An educator and social entrepreneur, she has spent more than 25 years in higher education, including work in academic administration, strategic planning and budget development, external relations, faculty recruitment, admissions, educational program development, implementation, and evaluation, and facilities program planning and development. A longstanding interest in gender equity in education and employment, coupled with professional work in engineering and science education beginning in 1987, prompted her to develop a number of new initiatives to tap the full range of human resources in scientific and technical pursuits. Both the Women in Science Project at Dartmouth, developed when she served as associate dean for Thayer School of Engineering, and MentorNet have been awarded the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring. Dr. Muller has authored numerous papers, is frequently an invited speaker, has received grants for her work from private foundations, corporations, and the federal government, a variety of awards, and serves on a number of boards. A.B. 1977 (philosophy/English), Dartmouth College; A.M. 1981, Ph.D. 1985 (Administration & Policy Analysis), Stanford University.

Dr. Liane Pedersen-Gallegos, University of Colorado

Liane Pedersen-Gallegos has been the co-director, along with Elaine Seymour, of Ethnography & Evaluation Research (E&ER) group at the University of Colorado since 1995, and has been the director since January, 2004. Liane has a Ph.D. in Sociology and specializes in ethnographic interviewing and text-based data analysis. Liane has worked on numerous research and evaluation-with-research projects that address the opportunities in higher education for women and people from other under-represented groups. These projects have mostly addressed the climate for under-represented groups in academe, from the undergraduate to post-graduate levels, including administrative positions. An issue of particular interest to Liane is the study of the career paths that women pursue, with a focus on sources of inspiration/discouragement and systemic barriers.

Marianne Hudson, M.A., Director, Entrepreneurship at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation

Marianne Hudson is Director, Entrepreneurship at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. She oversees many of the Foundation’s entrepreneurial education, mentoring and networking programs designed to ensure that more entrepreneurs develop sustainable, innovative businesses. Current focus areas include enhancing the equity investment environment for entrepreneurs, promoting the importance of giving back to entrepreneurs, and supporting initiatives the help women grow their businesses. She serves as Executive Director of the Angel Capital Association, a professional organization of North American angel investing groups focused on networking, research and sharing best practices.

Prior to joining the Center in November 2001, Marianne was Vice President – Marketing and Communications for the Mid-America Manufacturing Technology Center (MAMTC), a not-for profit organization that helps manufacturers improve their profitability and performance. She led a team in developing MAMTC’s original business plan in 1991, leading to significant investments from the federal government and three states.

Before her tenure at MAMTC, Marianne worked in the field of economic development, managing investments in research and development and business incubators as well as coordinating international trade and exchange programs. Positions included Vice President of the Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation and Assistant Manager of the Thomas Edison Program at the Ohio Department of Development.

Marianne holds a BA in Economics and Political Science from the University of Kansas and an MA in Public Policy from the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University. She is a graduate of the Centurions Leadership Program of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce.