Second Annual Women in Science Symposium

EOHSI along with the Joint Graduate Program in Toxicology (JGPT), and the Douglass College Project for Rutgers Women in Math, Science and Engineering sponsored the second annual symposium dedicated to women in the sciences on October 13, 1999.

The program featured invited speaker, Meryl Karol, Ph.D., Associate Chair of the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at the Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh who discussed, "With Bated Breath: Asthma" A panel discussion on "Air in the World" also took place and included: Debra Laskin, Ph.D., Rutgers University and EOHSI, Kimberly Rozett, Joint Graduate Program in Toxicology, Regina Santella, Ph.D.,Columbia University,Clifford Weisel, Ph.D.,UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and EOHSI.

This year's symposium honored Mildred Dresselhaus, Ph.D., Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technolgoy. Dr. Dresselhaus completed her Ph.D. at the University of Chicago with a thesis on the subject of microwave properties of superconductors in a magnetic field. She joined the MIT faculty in the Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in 1967 and the Dept. of Physics in 1983, and was named an Institute Professor in 1985. She has served as President of the American Physical Society, Treasurer of the National Academy of Sciences, President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and on numerous advisory committees and councils. Dr. Dresselhaus has received numerous awards, including the National Medal of Science and 16 honorary doctorates. She is the co-author of three books on carbon science. Her research interests are in experimental solid state physics, particularly in carbon related materials and their intercalation compounds, and low dimensional thermoelectrics. Her most recent interest have been in fullerenes and fullerene-related carbon nanotubes. A luncheon and student poster sessions was held in Dr. Dresselhaus's honor.