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Presentation to honor women pioneers through Purdue's history

By Christy Jones
Purdue News Service
Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Congratulations to Professor Virginia Ferris who was honored Wednesday, August 30 as one of 15 Women Pioneers of Purdue University by the Council on the Status of Women. The ceremony was part of a luncheon hosted by Patti Jischke at Westwood.

Professor Ferris' career at Purdue spans five decades as a nematologist in the Department of Entomology. She is an accomplished research scientist who has worked on the ecology, systematics, and more recently, the molecular biology of nematodes. Her recent scholarly work includes the discovery and development of resistance genes in soybeans to the soybean cyst nematode. A list of women who joined Professor Ferris in this honor is provided below.

-Dr. Yaninek, Department Head of Entomology

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Council on the Status of Women will honor its first women pioneers at Purdue University today (Aug. 30).

The 15 honorees, from both the past and present of Purdue, will be named at a noon luncheon at Westwood, the home of Purdue President Martin C. Jischke and his wife, Patty.

The honorees are:

Mary Ellen Bock, who is a professor and head of the Department of Statistics. She was the first woman to become a full professor in the Department of Statistics and has served in that position since 1995. Under her leadership, the department has grown from 13 percent women faculty to 33 percent today. Bock was instrumental in securing National Science Foundation funding to develop "Pathways to the Future" workshops to help young female faculty succeed in academia.

Martha O. Chiscon, who is a professor emerita of the Department of Biological Sciences. For 12 years, she also served Purdue's College of Science, first as an assistant and then as associate dean. Chiscon was a faculty representative to the Big Ten Athletic Conference and the NCAA, where she was instrumental in helping design the policies that resulted in bringing women's varsity sports under the umbrella of these once male-only organizations. She also was instrumental in starting the Women in Science Programs.

Margaret Church, who joined the English department at Purdue in 1953. She advanced through the ranks to full professor and was still teaching at the time of her death in 1982. Church was associated with the internationally known journal Modern Fiction Studies from its inception in 1955, and she served as co-editor from 1971 until her death. She was the founder and first director of Purdue's doctoral program in comparative literature. Church also was a prominent teacher and critic of James Joyce.

Jane Zimmer Daniels, who served as the director of the Women in Engineering Program from 1982-2001. She is an expert on the under-representation of women in engineering studies and the engineering profession. While at Purdue, she co-founded and became the first president of the Women in Engineering Program Advocates Network (WEPAN). In 1993-94, she worked as a visiting scientist at the National Science Foundation, directing its program focused on gender. She is now the director of the Clare Boothe Luce Program (for Women in the Sciences, Mathematics and Engineering) at the Henry Luce Foundation.

Amelia Earhart, who was an American aviator and noted early American pilot who mysteriously disappeared over the Pacific Ocean during a circumnavigation flight in 1937. She joined the faculty of Purdue in 1935 as counselor on careers for women, exploring new fields for young women to enter after graduation. She has been called the co-founder of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics Engineering at Purdue.

Virginia Ferris used a microscope when she began her career as a scientist. While the microscope remains an old friend, she now conducts research using technology made possible by genomics. A world-renowned nematologist, Ferris was among researchers who used molecular markers to identify genes that provide resistance to the soybean cyst nematode. (Photo by Tom Campbell)

Virginia R. Ferris, who joined the Purdue faculty in 1965. She attained the rank of professor in 1974, when she was one of less than a half-dozen female full professors in the university and the only one in the School of Agriculture. Ferris served as assistant dean of the Graduate School from 1971-75 and as assistant provost from 1976-79. She was an internationally renowned researcher of nematodes, and her work has included the discovery and development of resistance genes in soybean-to-soybean cyst nematodes.

Lillian Gilbreth, who was one of the first working female engineers holding a Ph.D. She became the first woman in the United States to become a full professor of management in the School of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue. Her relationship with Purdue began in 1924 and continued until 1948. She is considered "The First Lady of Engineering" and was the first woman elected into the National Academy of Engineering. With her husband, Frank, she did groundbreaking research on work processes that became the foundation for what is known today as ergonomics.

Violet B. Haas, who was a member of the Purdue faculty in the College of Electrical and Computing Engineering for 24 years. She joined Purdue as an assistant professor in 1962 and was promoted to full professor in 1977, remaining at Purdue until her death in 1986. In addition to publishing many articles in her areas of expertise - optimal control, nonlinear control and optimal estimation - Haas served as a mentor and role model to women students and faculty in science in engineering. In 1990, the Council on the Status of Women established the Violet B. Haas Award in her honor to recognize those who have effectively promoted the advancement of women at Purdue.

Leah H. Jamieson, who joined the faculty of Purdue's School of Electrical and Computer Engineering in 1976 and was named John A. Edwardson Dean of Engineering earlier this year. She co-founded Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS), a program which won the 2005 Bernard Gordon Prize for Innovation in Engineering and Technology Education from the National Academy of Engineering. Jamieson is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a fellow and president of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Helen R. Johnson, who initiated and directed the nursing program at Purdue, which began in 1963 with 30 students and a two-year associate degree program. During the next three years, she initiated nursing programs at all four Purdue regional campuses. Johnson retired from Purdue in 1980 and died in 2001. In 1989, the building that houses offices for the nursing faculty, conference rooms, classrooms and laboratories was named for her.

Mary Lockwood Matthews, who joined Purdue as an extension home economics instructor in 1910 and two years later became head of the Department of Home Economics. When the department became the School of Home Economics in 1926, she was named dean. Under her leadership, enrollment swelled to more than 1,000 students, which was the second largest enrollment of home economics schools in the nation. The school's first home economics building was renamed Matthews Hall in her honor in 1976.

Virginia Claypool Meredith, who was a speaker for the Purdue Farmers' Institutes beginning in 1889. She was one of the first women to manage all aspects of a rather large farm noted for Shorthorn cattle and sheep. Meredith was the first woman appointed to the Board of Trustees and served from 1921-36. She was active in getting the Purdue Memorial Union built as part of her role as a trustee and as a director on the union association. In 1958, Residence Hall X was renamed Meredith Hall in her memory.

Helen B. Schleman, who served Purdue as the director of the first women's residence hall in 1934 and, after serving in World War II, as dean of women from 1947-68. She fought for equality of women throughout her lifetime, both at Purdue and beyond. In the 1960s, Schleman, along with Dean Cecilia Zissis, founded the Span Plan Adult Student Services Program, which provides services to all students who have taken a nontraditional path to higher education.

Helen Bass Williams, who was the first African-American professor at Purdue. She came to Purdue in 1968 as a professor and a counselor. Williams played a leading role in establishing the Learning Center, now the Academic Success Center at Purdue. She also pioneered many of the diversity efforts at Purdue, including the Black Cultural Center. The Helen Bass Williams Scholarship of $1,000 is awarded to an African-American student each year.

Cecilia Zissis, who served as assistant and associate dean of women at Purdue from 1950-74. She published many articles and gave many presentations throughout the world on women's education and on the changing roles of men and women. Zissis was a co-founder of the Span Plan, and she served as the program's first director from 1970-87.

Writer: Christy Jones, (765) 494-1089, christyjones@purdue.edu

Sources: Barbara Clark, special assistant to the provost, (765) 494-1765, barbclark@purdue.edu

Mary Ellen Bock, (765) 494-3141, mbock@purdue.edu

Martha Chiscon, mchiscon@purdue.edu

Jane Zimmer Daniels, jdaniels@purdue.edu

Virginia R. Ferris, (765) 494-4609, vferris@purdue.edu

Leah H. Jamieson, (765) 494-5346, lhj@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu