An award-winning Massachusetts Institute of Technology physicist will speak to ASU students today about the influence women have had on science.
Mildred Dresselhaus, a professor of physics and engineering at MIT, will speak as part of the ASU Distinguished Lecture Series, on "Expanding Opportunities for Women in Science and Engineering." The speech will be in the Bateman Physical Sciences Center at 8 p.m.
"ASU is honored to have someone of this accomplishment," said Margaret Stuart, program coordinator for the Physics and Astronomy Department. "What she's done as a woman can translate into something [students] can do as a career path."
The topic is in response to controversial comments made by Harvard University President Lawrence Summers in January. Summers spoke about the innate differences that make men better than women in science.
Ann Hibner Koblitz, professor of women's studies with a specialty in women in science and medicine, said female doctorates in every field of science have increased by more than three times since the 1970s.
"Women have progressed much in the past 30 years or so," Dresselhaus said. "They are now a driving force [in science]."
Dresselhaus said she will be addressing Summers' comments, careers for women in academia, what women have accomplished in science and compare women in today's science world to the past.
"There are relatively few women in my field," Dresselhaus said. "I know about working in fields where women are outnumbered. That's what students want to hear about."
The Physics and Astronomy Department brought Dresselhaus to campus, with support from the Women's Studies Department, for her first lecture about women in science at ASU.
She will also give a more technical lecture called "Addressing Grand Energy Challenges Through Advanced Materials," on Thursday. It will be held in the Physical Sciences Center at 4 p.m.
Both lectures are free and open to the public.
Reach the reporter courtney.bonnell@asu.edu.
