29 October 2010
Edited by Edward W. Lempinen

Science Careers

Obstacles for Women Scientists Could Slow Global Innovation

Campus Challenge. AAAS President Alice S. Huang urged more systematic support for women in science and engineering.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico—Women scientists and students are still confronted by a “chilly” climate at many U.S. universities, and unless conditions improve, their departure from science and technology fields could hinder the nation’s strength in a competitive global economy, said AAAS President Alice S. Huang.

Speaking at the AAAS Caribbean Division’s 25th annual conference, the accomplished virologist and educator said it is imperative that the United States identify and support science talent wherever it is found. And she urged universities and colleges to lead those efforts.

“We’ve actually had marvelous changes in society in the past 20 years or so,” Huang told the audience at the 25 September talk. “There has been much more acceptance of women.... But there is still a great deal that needs to be done. We’re not there yet—and we’re losing out on a lot of individuals who could contribute.”

Huang’s talk was one of several recent AAAS reports and events—including one on Capitol Hill—to explore the challenges faced by women in science, engineering, and technology fields. While women still report problems ranging from overt bias to a lack of social support, there is an increasing recognition that they must be crucial players in the global drive for innovation.

A new survey of more than 1000 researchers, commissioned by AAAS/Science for L’Oreal USA (see www.aaas.org/go/loreal) found that more than half of the women who responded said they had experienced gender bias. More than half cited difficulties with child care as a major career barrier.

“We need to be more imaginative about how one can have a successful career in science as well as a life,” said Shirley Malcom, director of Education and Human Resources at AAAS. “It will be necessary to reorient the expectations so that women scientists face fewer hurdles and can play on a level field with their male counterparts.”

Support for women scientists has taken on new prominence as policy-makers promote innovation and technology development as economic necessities. Unless the United States can tap into the skill and experience of women and underrepresented minorities, Huang said, the nation may become less competitive.

Huang advised women to seek out mentors, join professional associations, and promote their own work. The AAAS survey found that women are lacking such support: Nearly one-third lacked career role models, and a quarter of the women said teachers and advisors could have helped them overcome career obstacles, compared to 14% of the men surveyed.

o remedy these deficits, policy-makers and employers are searching for new ways to support women scientists and engineers, speakers said at a 23 September Capitol Hill panel discussion of the survey. U.S. Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson (D—TX), who delivered opening remarks, has introduced legislation to promote gender parity among university faculty in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields.

“We need to keep the attention on getting rid of those barriers as much as we can,” Johnson said.

Programs to remove career barriers for women scientists and engineers globally are the focus of renewed attention and funding by the U.S. State Department, the World Bank, and an array of other development agencies, speakers said at a regional meeting of the International Network of Women Engineers and Scientists (INWES). The meeting, held 25 to 26 August and hosted by Education and Human Resources and the AAAS International Office, featured scientists, educators, and policy experts from 11 nations.

Many of Joshua Mandell’s clients at the World Bank “have expressed a demand” for science and technology programs that include a significant role for women, the program officer noted at the meeting, because the programs “can have strong impacts on economic growth.”

Edward W. Lempinen, Ginger Pinholster, Tina Adler, and Becky Ham

ELECTIONS

AAAS Annual Election: Preliminary Announcement

The 2010 AAAS election of general and section officers will be held in November. All members will receive a ballot for election of the president-elect, members of the Board of Directors, and members of the Committee on Nominations. Members registered in more than one section will receive ballots for elections for each section they are enrolled in. Candidates for all offices are listed below. Additional names may be placed in nomination for any office by petition submitted to the Chief Executive Officer no later than 12 November. Petitions nominating candidates for president-elect, members of the Board, or members of the Committee on Nominations must bear the signatures of at least 100 members of the Association. Petitions nominating candidates for any section office must bear the signatures of at least 50 members of the section. A petition to place an additional name in nomination for any office must be accompanied by the nominee’s curriculum vitae and statement of acceptance of nomination. Biographical information for the following candidates will be enclosed with the ballots mailed to members in October.

Slate of Candidates

General Election

President: William H. Press, Univ. of Texas, Austin; Linda P.B. Katehi, Univ. of California, Davis

Board of Directors: Raymond L. Orbach, Univ. of Texas, Austin; Inder M. Verma, Salk Institute for Biological Studies; Cynthia M. Beall, Case Western Reserve Univ.; Priscilla P. Nelson, New Jersey Institute of Technology

Committee on Nominations: Rosina M. Bierbaum, Univ. of Michigan; Francisco J. Ayala, Univ. of California, Irvine; John E. Burris, Burroughs Wellcome Fund; May R. Berenbaum, Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Thomas D. Pollard, Yale Univ.; Jo Handelsman, Yale Univ.; Roger Beachy, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Sandra M. Faber, Univ. of California, Santa Cruz

Section Elections

Agriculture, Food, and Renewable Resources

Chair Elect: Deborah Delmer, Univ. of California, Davis; Donald R. Ort, Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: Cynthia Rosenzweig, NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies; Rodney A. Hill, Univ. of Idaho

Electorate Nominating Committee: Leon V. Kochian, USDA-ARS Robert W. Holley Center for Agriculture & Health; Peter R. Grace, Queensland Univ. of Technology, Australia; Richard T. Sayre, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center; Harry J. Klee, Univ. of Florida

Anthropology

Chair Elect: John H. Relethford, SUNY-Oneonta; Leslie C. Aiello, Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research

Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: Susan Antón, New York Univ.; George R. Milner, Pennsylvania State Univ.

Electorate Nominating Committee: Lynnette Leidy Sievert, Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst; Arlen F. Chase, Univ. of Central Florida; Daniel E. Brown, Univ. of Hawaii; Dawnie Wolfe Steadman, Binghamton Univ.

Astronomy

Chair Elect: Charles Alcock, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics; Jean L. Turner, Univ. of California, Los Angeles

Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: Chris Impey, Univ. of Arizona; Amy J. Barger, Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison

Electorate Nominating Committee: Eileen D. Friel, Boston Univ.; Scott J. Kenyon, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory; Elizabeth Barton, Univ. of California, Irvine; Heidi B. Hammel, Space Science Institute

Atmospheric and Hydrospheric Sciences

Chair Elect: Susan K. Avery, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution; Thomas E. Graedel, Yale Univ.

Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: Michael E. Mann, Pennsylvania State Univ.; Sally A. McFarlane, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Electorate Nominating Committee: Ronald G. Prinn, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; James R. Luyten, King Abdullah University of Science & Technology; Randall M. Dole, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; L. Ruby Leung, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Council Delegate: Anthony J. Broccoli, Rutgers Univ; Lynne D. Talley, Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Biological Sciences

Chair Elect: Michael Lynch, Indiana Univ.; Gary Felsenfeld, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases/NIH

Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: Nancy J. Cox, Univ. of Chicago; Charles F. (Chip) Aquadro, Cornell Univ.

Electorate Nominating Committee: Jay A. Tischfield, Rutgers Univ.; Deborah E. Goldberg, Univ. of Michigan; Anna Marie Skalka, Fox Chase Cancer Center; Charles D. Laird, Univ. of Washington

Chemistry

Chair Elect: Alison Butler, Univ. of California, Santa Barbara; Bruce C. Garrett, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: Joseph A. (Joe) Gardella, Univ. at Buffalo; Bruce A. Parkinson, Univ. of Wyoming

Electorate Nominating Committee: Debra Rolison, Naval Research Laboratory; Peter C. Ford, Univ. of California, Santa Barbara; Robin L. Garrell, Univ. of California, Los Angeles; Hilary A. Godwin, Univ. of California, Los Angeles

Dentistry and Oral Health Sciences

Chair Elect: Floyd E. Dewhirst, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, The Forsyth Institute; Barbara D. Boyan, Georgia Institute of Technology

Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: Janet Moradian-Oldak, Univ. of Southern California School of Dentistry; Susan Kinder Haake, Univ. of California, Los Angeles School of Dentistry

Electorate Nominating Committee: Gill Diamond, Univ. of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey; Susan Reisine, Univ. of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine; Bjorn Steffensen, Univ. of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio; David K. Ann, City of Hope Hospital, Univ. of Southern California

Council Delegate: Maria Emanuel Ryan, Stony Brook Univ. School of Dental Medicine; Jacques E. Nör, Univ. of Michigan

Education

Chair Elect: Judith A. Ramaley, Winona State Univ.; John R. Jungck, Beloit College

Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: Susan Rundell Singer, Carleton College; Robert L. DeHaan, Emory Univ.

Electorate Nominating Committee: Min Li, Univ. of Washington; Anne E. Egger, Stanford Univ.; Troy M. Livingston, Museum of Life and Science, Durham, NC; Gerald R. Van Hecke, Harvey Mudd College

Council Delegate: Arthur Eisenkraft, Univ. of Massachusetts, Boston; Larry Bell, Museum of Science

Engineering

Chair Elect: John L. Anderson, Illinois Institute of Technology; Nicholas A. Peppas, Univ. of Texas, Austin

Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: J. Gary Eden, Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Tomás Díaz de la Rubia, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Electorate Nominating Committee: John L. Hudson, Univ. of Virginia; Sarah A. Rajala, Mississippi State Univ.; William E. Bentley, Univ. of Maryland, College Park; Margaret Murnane, Univ. of Colorado, Boulder

General Interest in Science and Engineering

Chair Elect: Sharon Dunwoody, Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison; Lynn Timpani Friedmann, Friedmann Communications

Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: Chase Huntley, The Wilderness Society; Katarina Nordqvist, Nobel Museum

Electorate Nominating Committee: Kathleen M.B. Boomer, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD; Kathryn E. Perez, Univ. of Wisconsin, La Crosse; Mary K. Miller, Exploratorium, San Francisco; Steve Miller, Freelance Science Writer

Council Delegate: Assad Panah, Univ. of Pittsburgh, Bradford; JoAnn M. Valenti, Brigham Young Univ.

Geology and Geography

Chair Elect: Glen M. MacDonald, Univ. of California, Los Angeles; Kenneth Nealson, Univ. of Southern California

Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: Ronald F. Abler, International Geographical Union; Paul H. Glaser, Univ. of Minnesota

Electorate Nominating Committee: Robert K. Peet, Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Patrick J. Bartlein, Univ. of Oregon; Ester Sztein, National Academy of Sciences; Kenneth P. Kodama, Lehigh Univ.

History and Philosophy of Science

Chair Elect: Joseph E. Pitt, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univ.; Jed Z. Buchwald, California Institute of Technology

Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: Anne-Marie Carroll Mazza, The National Academies; Sandra D. Mitchell, Univ. of Pittsburgh

Electorate Nominating Committee: Jason Scott Robert, Arizona State Univ.; Hanne Andersen, Aarhus Univ., Denmark; Carl Mitcham, Colorado School of Mines; Alan E. Shapiro, Univ. of Minnesota

Industrial Science and Technology

Chair Elect: Cammy R. Abernathy, Univ. of Florida; Gary E. Marchant, Arizona State Univ.

Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: Daniel J.C. Herr, Semiconductor Research Corporation; François Coallier, École de Technologie Supérieure, Canada

Electorate Nominating Committee: Wen-li Wu, National Institute of Standards and Technology; Gordon D. Jarvinen, Los Alamos National Laboratory; Derek Hook, Univ. of Minnesota; Richard Broglie, Pioneer/DuPont

Information, Computing, and Communication

Chair Elect: Tony Hey, Microsoft Research; Francine Berman, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: Christine L. Borgman, Univ. of California, Los Angeles; Eric S. Roberts, Stanford Univ.

Electorate Nominating Committee: Christopher R. Johnson, Univ. of Utah; Eugene H. Spafford, Purdue Univ.; W. Richards (Rick) Adrion, Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst; Barbara Simons, Retired, IBM Research

Council Delegate: Julia Gelfand, Univ. of California, Irvine; Michael R. Nelson, Georgetown Univ.

Linguistics and Language Science

Chair Elect: Joseph E. Aoun, Northeastern Univ.; John A. Goldsmith, Univ. of Chicago

Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: Claire Bowern, Yale Univ.; Joan A. Sereno, Univ. of Kansas

Electorate Nominating Committee: Hans Henrich Hock, Univ. of Illinois; Maria Polinsky, Harvard Univ.; Jonathan David Bobaljik, Univ. of Connecticut; Karen Emmorey, San Diego State Univ.

Council Delegate: D. Terence Langendoen, National Science Foundation; Brian D. Joseph, Ohio State Univ.

Mathematics

Chair Elect: Philippe Tondeur, Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Jill P. Mesirov, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard

Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: Joceline Lega, Univ. of Arizona; Reinhard Laubenbacher, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univ.

Electorate Nominating Committee: Linda Petzold, Univ. of California, Santa Barbara; Robert E. Megginson, Univ. of Michigan; James Crowley, Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics; William Yslas Vélez, Univ. of Arizona

Medical Sciences

Chair Elect: Nancy H. Ruddle, Yale Univ. School of Medicine; Ann M. Arvin, Stanford Univ. School of Medicine

Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: Arturo Casadevall, Albert Einstein College of Medicine; Rafi Ahmed, Emory Univ. School of Medicine

Electorate Nominating Committee: Jonathan D. Gitlin, Vanderbilt Univ. School of Medicine; Douglas D. Richman, Univ. of California, San Diego; Guy A. Zimmerman, Univ. of Utah School of Medicine; Richard Ransohoff, Cleveland Clinic Foundation

Neuroscience

Chair Elect: Ted M. Dawson, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine; David M. Holtzman, Washington Univ. St. Louis

Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: Amita Sehgal, Univ. of Pennsylvania School of Medicine; Yehuda Ben-Shahar, Washington Univ. St. Louis

Electorate Nominating Committee: Jeanne M. Nerbonne, Washington Univ. St. Louis School of Medicine; Joe Henry Steinbach, Washington Univ. St. Louis; Karen Hsiao Ashe, Univ. of Minnesota; John Huguenard, Stanford Univ. School of Medicine

Pharmaceutical Science

Chair Elect: Sidney D. Nelson, Univ. of Washington; Alice M. Clark, Univ. of Mississippi

Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: John R. Cashman, Human BioMolecular Research Institute; Charles D. Smith, Medical Univ. of South Carolina

Electorate Nominating Committee: Murali Ramanathan, Univ. of Buffalo; Maria Croyle, Univ. of Texas, Austin; Salomon A. Stavchansky, Univ. of Texas, Austin; Barbara E. Hayes, Texas Southern Univ.

Council Delegate: Jeanette C. Roberts, Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison; Courtney V. Fletcher, Univ. of Nebraska Medical Center

Physics

Chair Elect: Lynn A. Boatner, Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Allen Goldman, Univ. of Minnesota

Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: Megan Donahue, Michigan State Univ.; Edmund Bertschinger, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Electorate Nominating Committee: David K. Campbell, Boston Univ.; Malcolm R. Beasley, Stanford Univ.; Harold C. Craighead, Cornell Univ.; Roberto Peccei, Univ. of California, Los Angeles

Psychology

Chair Elect: Richard J. Davidson, Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison; Emanuel Donchin, Univ. of South Florida

Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: Janice K. Kiecolt-Glaser, Ohio State Univ. College of Medicine; Niels Birbaumer, Univ. of Tübingen, Germany

Electorate Nominating Committee: Hill Goldsmith, Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison; Nora S. Newcombe, Temple Univ.; Michael Rugg, Univ. of California, Irvine; William G. Iacono, Univ. of Minnesota

Social, Economic, and Political Sciences

Chair Elect: Henry E. Brady, Univ. of California, Berkeley; Craig Calhoun, Social Science Research Council

Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: Julia Lane, National Science Foundation; David L. Featherman, Univ. of Michigan

Electorate Nominating Committee: Cecilia L. Ridgeway, Stanford Univ.; Robert A. Pollak, Washington Univ. St. Louis; Peter J. Burke, Univ. of California, Riverside; Wendy Baldwin, Population Council

Societal Impacts of Science and Engineering

Chair Elect: Peter D. Blair, National Academy of Sciences; William Bonvillian, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: Mahmud Farooque, Consortium for Science, Policy & Outcomes; Anne Fitzpatrick, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Electorate Nominating Committee: Robert Margolis, National Renewable Energy Laboratory; Christopher Hill, George Mason Univ.; Jay Gulledge, Pew Center on Global Climate Change; Dena Plemmons, Univ. of California, San Diego

Council Delegate: Michael J. Imperiale, Univ. of Michigan; C.K. Gunsalus, Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Statistics

Chair Elect: James Berger, Duke Univ.; Mitchell H. Gail, National Cancer Institute/NIH

Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: James L. Rosenberger, Pennsylvania State Univ.; Alan F. Karr, National Institute of Statistical Sciences

Electorate Nominating Committee: Larry Wasserman, Carnegie Mellon Univ.; Emery N. Brown, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard Medical School; Xuming He, Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Charmain Dean, Simon Fraser Univ., Canada

Council Delegate: John Lehoczky, Carnegie Mellon Univ.; Paul P. Biemer, Research Triangle Institute International