Lincoln (Neb.)-Sept. 10, 1998-Due largely to its success in its decade-long efforts to recruit and nurture women graduate students, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln department of mathematics and statistics will be honored Sept. 11 at the White House with a Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring.
The awards program, administered for the White House by the National Science Foundation, honors outstanding mentoring efforts or programs designed to enhance the participation of traditionally underrepresented groups. A $10,000 grant accompanies the 20 awards (10 to institutions and 10 to individuals), along with a commemorative presidential certificate.
"In 1988-89, I was concerned that we were going to go though the entire decade of the '80s without a woman getting a Ph.D. in our department," said Jim Lewis, professor and chair of the department. "I thought that was not defensible and that we had to put extra effort into finding successful women graduate students."
The extra effort paid off. Since 1994, the department has awarded 13 doctorates to women with two more on track to get theirs in December. Meanwhile, about half of the department's graduate students are now women. Lewis said the effort's effects also have been qualitative.
"The only graduate we've had to win an NSF postdoctoral fellowship is Jennifer Mueller, who's now studying at RPI (the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y.)," he said. "She's an example of how our program got stronger when we started recruiting women students."
Assistant professor Judy Walker, who coordinated the
department's award nomination, will be at the White House
ceremony to accept the award.
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