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SEVENTH WOMEN'S STUDIES RESIDENCY
IN HONOR OF JUDITH GOLD STITZEL PRESENTS:

Dr. Debra Rolison

The Center for Women’s Studies is delighted that Dr. Debra Rolison will be on our campus for this year’s Women’s Studies Residency. Dr. Debra Rolison is a research chemist and head of the Naval Research Laboratory's Advanced Electrochemical Materials section. Dr. Rolison also writes and lectures widely on issues affecting women in science. She will speak on the topic "A Path Forward: Title IX as a Change Strategy for Science and Engineering."

Dr. Rolison is a proponent of the use of Title IX as a strategy to address the disproportionately low retention of female Ph.D. graduates as faculty members in science, technology, engineering and mathematics departments. Although more women are completing their Ph.D.s in the sciences, the fraction of women on the tenure-track faculty at top universities lags far behind. “So we’ve created this wealth of talented women in science and engineering in our country, in Canada and Europe,” Dr. Rolison notes. “And these women are frequently the best in their graduating class. They do outstanding research. And then it’s as if they’ve fallen off the face of the earth.” Rolison’s ideas with respect to using Title IX to evaluate academic science and engineering departments led to a hearing on “Title IX and Science” before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Space in 2002. “Why propose such a drastic course of action as Title IX?” she asks. “Because it’s the LAW . . . and because it works.”

Dr. Rolison received a B.S. in Chemistry from Florida Atlantic University in 1975 and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1980 under the direction of Royce W. Murray. Rolison joined the Naval Research Laboratory as a research chemist in 1980. She is also an Adjunct Full Professor of Chemistry at the University of Utah.

Her research at the NRL focuses on multifunctional nanoarchitectures, with emphasis on new nanostructured materials for catalytic chemistries, energy storage and conversion, biomolecular composites, porous magnets, and sensors. She is the principal inventor of composite aerogels; electrified microheterogeneous catalysis; a process to electrodesulfurize carbons and coals under mild conditions; self-organized protein superstructures, and 3-D nanowired mesoporous architectures. Dr. Rolison is a prolific writer and speaker in her field and has been awarded 13 U.S. patents (with 5 pending) She lectures on the impact of nano(bio)technology on society and the ethical obligations of scientists who perform research in nanoscale science and technology.

Following two busy days meeting with students and faculty from chemistry, physics, philosophy and other departments, Dr. Rolison will present a public lecture on Tuesday, January 24th at 7:30 in NRCCE Conference Rooms A & B. A full schedule will be available soon: watch the space below for updates.

Public Lecture

"A Path Forward:
Title IX as a Change Strategy for
Science and Engineering"

Tuesday, January 24, 7: 30 p.m.

NRCCE Conference Rooms A&B  

Free and open to the public.
A reception will follow the lecture.

        

Other Events/Activities:

January 23rd:

12:00 p.m. Lunch with physics faculty and
graduate students.

1:30-4:00 p.m. Individual meetings with
chemistry faculty and students.

4:30 p.m. Chemistry colloquium, 312 Clark Hall.

January 24th:

11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Lane Department Seminar on "Mesoporous Nanostructured Architectures for High Performance in Rate-Critical Applications."

12:15 p.m.-12:45 p.m. Tour of nanotechnology labs.

1:00 p.m.-2:30 p.m. Lunch and discussion with students from the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and Association for Women in Science (AWIS).

4:00 p.m. Philosophy colloquium on nanobiotechnology
ethics (details to be announced).

 


Previous Years' Residents:

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