Meet the Scientists!
These are our heroes, our inspiration, our neighbors, our mentors, and our history...If you don't see your name, or your mentor's name here but would like it added, please let us know!
Women at the Frontier of Science at Washington State University
Dr. Neva Abelson ('34 Chemistry, WSU)
Dr. Abelson earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 1934, and then became one of the first women to graduate with a medical degree from Johns Hopkins University. She was also the first woman pediatrician placed in charge of Johns Hopkins Hospital nurseries. She later co-developed a test for the Rh blood factor that has saved the lives of millions of adults and infants. What was once Science Hall at WSU now carries her name (shared with Philip Abelson; see article here).
Dr. Lilian A. Ackerman ('82, Cultural Anthropology, WSU)
Lillian A. Ackerman [Adjunct Faculty] is an ethnographer specializing in the Plateau Culture Area. Dr. Ackerman has been conducting field investigations of varying lengths on the Colville Reservation in 1988 and another on the Nez Perce Reservation in 1990 on the subject of extended family organization and land tenure. Her dissertation work pioneered gender studies in the Plateau and demonstrated that gender equality exists on the Colville Indian Reservation and the rest of the Plateau.
Visit Dr. Ackerman's Website
Zella Elvira Bisbee ('10 MSc Physics/Math, WSU)
In June of 1904, Bisbee earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics and Math. In 1910 she earned a Master of Science degree in the study of Physics and Math after the successful defense of her thesis, "Interference Phenomena in Architectural Acoustics." She was the only woman on the staff of The Evergreen, during the 1902 and 1903 academic years, serving as Editor in 1903.
First Women in Graduate Education at WSU
Zella Bisbee, front row, third from left
Dr. Tori Byington ('06 Ph.D., Interdisciplinary, WSU)
Dr. Byington has been the Psi Chapter's unfailing and dedicated faculty representative since 2006. Her doctoral research, funded in part by a NSF Dissertation Enhancement Grant, examined the effect of mentoring and organization context on men’s and women’s intentions to seek advanced degrees in the science, technology, engineering and math disciplines. She is a member of gRACE (gendering research across the campuses). as well as an active member of the American Sociological Association, the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, and Sociologists for Women Society. At WSU, she is active in the Queer Alliance, of which she is the founder and chair, and GRACe—a group advocating Gendering Research Across the Campuses. Dr. Byington is also an ex-officio member of the President’s Commission on the Status of Women. In 2007 she was recognized as a Woman of Distinction for her efforts in supporting and promoting women and other underrepresented students, faculty, and staff on campus.
WSU NEWS: WSU selects Gov. Gregoire as Woman of the Year
Dr. Sue Clark (Ph.D., Inorganic and Radiochemistry, Florida State)
Dr. Clark is Professor and Chair of the Chemistry Department and interim vice-chancellor for academic affairs at WSU Tri-Cities. She is the first woman to chair the department. Her current research focuses on the environmental chemistry of plutonium and other actinides, and development of radioanalytical methods to measure actinide elements in environmental samples.
Visit Dr. Clark's Website
WSU Today: Researcher Tracks Uranium Isotopes
Dr. Sue Dexheimer (Ph.D., Physics - UC Berkeley S.B., MIT)
Dr. Dexheimer is an associate professor of Physics at WSU. She uses state-of-the-art femtosecond laser spectroscopic techniques to study ultrafast processes in condensed matter systems.
Visit Dr. Dexheimer's Website
Dr. Patricia Hunt ('83 Ph.D., Reproductive Biology, U of Hawaii)
Reproductive Biologist and Meyer Distinguished Professor Patricia Hunt was recently been named one of the top 50 researchers of 2007 by Scientific American, for her work showing a potential threat to human health posed by bisphenol A (BPA), a component of the polycarbonate plastics used to make food and beverage containers.
Visit Dr. Hunt's Website
WSU News Article: Scientific American Names WSU Scientist One of Top 50 Researchers of 2007
Dr. Suzanne Lindsey (Ph.D., Molecular Microbiology & Immunology, Oregon Health Sciences University)
WSU scientist Suzanne Lindsey is taking aim against metastatic cancer as part of a new biotech company, the Recodagen Corporation. The company’s technology will be based on Lindsey’s discovery of a novel class of protein with the potential to allow doctors to diagnose and target invasive cancer cells.
Visit Dr. Lindsey's Website
WSU Today Article: WSU Researcher Targets Metastatic Cancer
Dr. Nancy Magnuson ('78 Molecular Bioscience, WSU)
Dr. Magnuson, the Herbert E. Eastlick Distinguished Professor in the College of Sciences, joined the WSU faculty in 1980. She studies the oncogene (cancer causing gene) pim-1, a gene that helps cells survive, but also can cause cancer. Dr. Magnuson received the 2005 Association for Faculty Women’s Samuel H. Smith Leadership Award for in recognition for her international standing in the field of immunology research and her success as a mentor of younger faculty and graduate students, many of whom have gone on to prestigious positions. Dr. Magnuson serves on the Board of Directors of the Spokane Chapter of the American Cancer Society, the advisory board of the WSU Cancer Prevention and Research Center, and on grant review panels for the U.S. Army and National Institutes of Health.
Visit Dr. Manguson's Website
Dr. Elizabeth Margaret McKay ('34 Botany, WSU)
In June of 1930, Dr. McKay received her Master's Degree and began her doctoral studies. The Botany Department admitted her to doctoral candidacy in October of 1933, and on June 4, 1934, Elizabeth McKay defended her dissertation, becoming the first woman to earn a doctoral degree from the State College of Washington.
Dr. Mechthild Tegeder (Ph.D.,Institute for Applied Genetics, Free University Berlin, Germany)
Dr. Tegeder, an associate professor in the School of Biological Sciences, is a leader in he field of nitrogen partitioning and amino cid transporters in plants. Tegeder recently received a National Science Foundation Career Award and participated on a State of Washington delegation to Cuba.
Visit Dr. Tegeder's Website
Dr. Mary Wyer - ('73 English, WSU)
Dr. Wyer is currently an assistant professor in Psychology and Women's and Gender Studies at North Carolina State University. She is also the director of the Women in Science and Engineering Project (WISE) at NCSU. She earned her bachelor’s degree in English at WSU in 1973 and returned to WSU in 1977 after working at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to become Outreach Coordinator for the Women’s Resource Center. It was during her first year in this position that she began creating the Women’s Transit Program. Dr. Wyer was recognized as a Woman of Distinction in 2007.
Mary Wyer receives her Woman of Distinction Award in 2007 from Mike Tate (left) and former WSU President