UNC has named the first fellows in the Working on Women in Science (WOWS) program, a campus-wide initiative to foster the advancement of women in science and medicine.
“Many women enter science as students but too few stay in academic careers to assume positions of leadership,” said Etta Pisano, vice dean for academic affairs in UNC’s School of Medicine.
“I am confident that our first WOWS Scholars will make important contributions to our goal — promoting the professional advancement of women in the sciences,” said Karen Gil, senior associate dean for social sciences in UNC’s College of Arts and Sciences.
The fellows are Laurie McNeil and Jane Hawkins from the College, Margaret Leigh from the School of Medicine and Rosalind Coleman from the schools of Medicine and Public Health.
McNeil, professor and chair of the department of physics and astronomy, is a condensed matter/materials physicist, specializing in optical spectroscopy of semiconductors and insulators.
Hawkins, professor of mathematics, works on the mathematical theory of physical or abstract objects that change over time. She is also working on a mathematical model of the spread of HIV in a lymph node.
Coleman, a professor of nutrition and pediatrics, focuses on the use of biochemical and molecular techniques to study glycerolipid metabolism and the regulation of triacylglycerol and phospholipid synthesis in liver.
Leigh, a professor and vice chair of pediatrics in the School of Medicine, has long been a world leader in the study of airway disorders in children, ranging from cystic fibrosis to primary ciliary dyskinesia. She has and continues to serve in national leadership roles for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
