The Sophian

Issue date: 4/27/06 Section: News

Media Credit: Courtesy of Smith College Catherine Hunt '77 speaks to students during the Changing the Face of Science and Engineering panel on Friday, April 21.

Smith welcomed alumnae in science, technology, engineering and mathematics to campus on April 20-22 to participate in "Changing the Face of Science and Engineering." Alumnae visited science classes, heard presentations from professors, attended Celebrating Collaborations and heard a panel discussion called "Smith Sets the Pace: Advancing Women in Science, Engineering and Technology.

In the Alumnae House Conference Room, seven distinguished panelists discussed their careers and the effects that their gender and personal lives have had on their success. The panelists represented 38 years of Smith graduates; their careers ranged from academia to industry.

Martha Dennis '64, a telecommunications technologist and venture capitalist, moderated the discussion.

Dennis said that the "dialogue is near and dear to everyone in the room." She asked first whether the panelists were encouraged or discouraged to pursue a career in science and technology.

Catherine Hunt '77, leader of technology partnerships for Rohm and Haas, said that her father was a chemist by training and he made her love chemistry. "When I came to Smith, I declared chemistry as my major right off and when I told him, he said that chemistry is no place for a woman. I told him it was too late."

Asked if she felt like a pioneer as a woman in her field, Suzanne Hammond Corkin '59, professor of behavioral neuroscience at MIT, said that she never thought of herself as a pioneer.

"I was maybe one of 16 pioneers of senior female faculty at MIT who bonded together and made something extraordinary happen," she said. "We had a meeting and each person had felt the same discrimination in terms of salary and title. We wrote a letter to the dean of science at MIT to look into the issue of discrimination against females.

"The school of science investigated our claim, and submitted a report on it. MIT President Vest wrote, 'I have always believed that contemporary gender discrimination within universities is part reality and part perception. True, but I now understand that reality is by far the greater part of the balance.'"

Continued...

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