Laurie E. McNeil, professor of physics and astronomy and of applied and materials sciences in UNC's College of Arts and Sciences, has won the 2009 Mary Turner Lane Award.
Established in 1986, the award recognizes people who make outstanding contributions to the lives of women students, faculty, staff and administrators at Carolina. It is named after Mary Turner Lane, founding director of the Curriculum in Women’s Studies and the first recipient of the award.
The University’s Association for Women Faculty and Professionals presented the award to McNeil April 29 at the group’s annual banquet.
McNeil, who has chaired the Department of Physics and Astronomy since 2004, was cited for her leadership of women in science through scholarship and example, not only at Carolina, but also throughout the country and around the world.
One of only six female physics chairs in the United States, McNeil is “the visible face of a department that unites experimental and theoretical science,” said Joy Kasson, professor and chair of American studies, as she read the award citation.
One nominator commented on McNeil’s tireless efforts on behalf of Working on Women in Science (WOWS). As one of four members of the first cohort of WOWS scholars, McNeil has advised department chairs and personnel and search committees in the recruitment, retention and advancement of women faculty. Through the Women in Science lectureship, the group also has brought eminent women researchers to campus.
Another nominator said, “She serves as a terrific role model. She led the college’s recent effort to obtain funding from the National Science Foundation for an ADVANCE program to stimulate gender equity in the sciences at UNC.”
A Carolina faculty member since 1984, McNeil is a condensed matter/materials physicist, specializing in optical spectroscopy of semiconductors and insulators. She held a Bowman and Gordon Gray Professorship for “excellence in inspirational teaching of undergraduate students” and has worked to transform the teaching of introductory physics at Carolina through a Chapman Family Faculty Fellowship at the Institute for the Arts and Humanities.
McNeil was instrumental in establishing UNC-BEST (UNC Baccalaureate Education in Science and Teaching), a joint program between the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Education to prepare science majors to become high school science teachers. And she spearheaded the college’s multi-year project to revise Carolina’s undergraduate general education curriculum.
An aficionado of classical music with a wry sense of humor, McNeil has worked hard to combat many of the common stereotypes of scientists.
“The evidence, from her students and her colleagues, shows that Laurie McNeil has made a huge difference for women on this campus and beyond,” Kasson said.
[Editor's note: This story originally appeared in The University Gazette.]
