ten amazing stem women and what we can learn from them
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Ten practical characteristics that successful business people can use today in their careers.TRANSCRIPT
Her Story: A Timeline of the Women Who Changed America © 2013
Ten Amazing STEM Women and What We
Can Learn From Them
Jill S. Tietjen, P.E.
President, National Women’s Hall of Fame
Co-Author, “Her Story: A Timeline of the Women Who Changed
America”
Her Story: A Timeline of the Women Who Changed America © 2013
1882
Ellen Henrietta Swallow Richards
#1 Take Advantage of Opportunities
• First woman accepted into the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT), although as a
“special” student, as the school didn’t want to
admit that any women were enrolled.
Graduated with a degree in chemistry.
• Credited as the founder of the field of home
economics.
• One of the founders of the American
Association of University Women.
• Called the “Mother of Ecology.”
Her Story: A Timeline of the Women Who Changed America © 2013
1895
#2 Necessity is the Mother of Invention
Harriet Strong
• Left penniless when her husband committed suicide,
with four daughters to raise, Harriet Strong
pioneered water conservation and water storage
techniques for which she received patents
• Called the Walnut Queen, she became one of the
people who helped make California the breadbasket
it is today
• First woman member of the Los Angeles Chamber
of Commerce
Her Story: A Timeline of the Women Who Changed America © 2013
1895Mary Engle Pennington
#3 Don’t Let Adversity Stop You
• Denied an earned B.S. because the university didn’t
award degrees for women
• Pennington earned her Ph.D. (which was awarded as
she was an “extraordinary case”)
• Received patents for safe handling of eggs, milk,
poultry, and fish
• Called the Ice Lady because she encouraged vendors in
the markets to put fish on ice to keep it from spoiling
• Developed refrigerated railroad cars to transport food
safely
Her Story: A Timeline of the Women Who Changed America © 2013
1931
#4 You Don’t Need to Have 12 Children to Test Your Theories
• One of the founders of the field of
industrial engineering, Lillian and Frank
Gilbreth had 12 children to test their
theories
• A pioneering advocate of career interest
tests
• She did extensive work to make the
kitchen more efficient and to
accommodate individuals with disabilities
Lillian Moller Gilbreth
Her Story: A Timeline of the Women Who Changed America © 2013
1943
Admiral Grace Murray Hopper
#5 Ask for Forgiveness, Not Permission
• Invented the computer compiler
• She made it possible for us to have
personal computers, smart phones –
all of the electronics we take for
granted
• She believed it was always easier to ask
for forgiveness – after she did
something – than to ask for
permission before – someone will
always say “no”
Her Story: A Timeline of the Women Who Changed America © 2013
1944
Chien-Shiung Wu
#6 Make Lemons Out of Lemonade
• One of the foremost nuclear physicists in the
world, Wu was not awarded the Nobel Prize
for which she provided the experimental proof
• Worked on the Manhattan Project to develop
the nuclear bomb
• Wrote the book on beta decay which is still
the standard for nuclear physicists
• The first living scientist to have an asteroid
named after her
Her Story: A Timeline of the Women Who Changed America © 2013
1952
#7 Find a Need and Fill It
Watch Dr. Apgar demonstrate how to perform the Apgar Score:
Dr. Virginia Apgar
• An anesthesiologist, she observed that babies
were not receiving adequate attention at birth
• Developed a 0-10 point score to assess newborn
health at one minute and five minutes after birth
• The Apgar Score – now used worldwide – is
named for her
Her Story: A Timeline of the Women Who Changed America © 2013
1963Maria Goeppert-Mayer
#8 Follow Your Dream
• Although she had a PhD in physics, she
often couldn’t get a job because of nepotism
rules – her husband was hired at universities
as a chemistry professor and they couldn’t
hire her
• Worked on her physics experiments as a
volunteer
• Eventually was hired – worked to develop
the nuclear bomb during World War II
(Manhattan Project)
• Received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1963
(the first American woman)
Her Story: A Timeline of the Women Who Changed America © 2013
1988
Gertrude Elion
#9 Be Passionate
• Decided to devote her career to drug
research after watching her beloved
grandfather die a slow and painful
death from cancer
• Wasn’t initially able to get a job
because she was a woman
• Received the 1988 Nobel Prize in
Physiology or Medicine for the first
drug to successfully treat childhood
leukemia
Her Story: A Timeline of the Women Who Changed America © 2013
1993
Sheila Widnall
#10 Herding Horses Can be Good Training
• Aeronautical engineer and first
woman to serve as Secretary of the
Air Force
• Said growing up on a ranch in
California and herding horses was
good training for leading the
faculty at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT)
• An expert in the field of fluid
dynamics
Her Story: A Timeline of the Women Who Changed America © 2013
Ten Amazing STEM Women and What We Can Learn From Them
#10 Herding Horses Can be Good Training
#9 Be Passionate
#8 Follow Your Dream
#7 Find a Need and Fill It
#6 Make Lemons Out of Lemonade
#5 Ask for Forgiveness, Not Permission
#4 You Don’t Need to Have 12 Children to Test Your Theories
#3 Don’t Let Adversity Stop You
#1 Take Advantage of Opportunities#2 Necessity is the Mother of Invention
Her Story: A Timeline of the Women Who Changed America © 2013
• All of the women in the presentation
have been inducted into the National
Women’s Hall of Fame.
• Over 850 women, including the ones
you’ve just learned about, are in my
book
• The book features women from every
field of endeavor, including all STEM
fields
• These women changed America. They
did amazing things and we don’t know
about them!
I tell the stories of great women and write women back
into history. I want to hear from you. I would love to
come speak to your organization:
www.herstoryatimeline.com
Her Story: A Timeline of the Women Who Changed America © 2013
Sources:
Womenshistory.about.com
www.greatwomen.org – The web site of the National Women’s Hall of Fame
Bailey, Martha J. “American Women in Science: A Biographical Dictionary.” ABC-CLIP: Santa Barbara,
California, 1994.
James, Edward T., Janet Wilson James, Paul S. Boyer, Editors. “Notable American Women 1607-1950: A
Biographical Dictionary.” The Belknap Press of Harvard University: Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1971.
Macdonald, Anne L. “Feminine Ingenuity: Women and Invention in America.” Ballantine Books: New York,
New York, 1992.
Profitt, Pamela, Editor. “Notable Women Scientists.” Gale Group: Farmington Hills, Michigan, 1999.