'Advancing Diversity in Science & Engineering,' Talk by Abigail Stewart, U. of Michigan, 2/25

February 24, 2009

Abigail Stewart

Abigail Stewart will give a talk sponsored by the Director's Office titled "Advancing Diversity in Science and Engineering" at noon on Wednesday, February 25, in Berkner Hall, Room B. Stewart is the Sandra Schwartz Tangri Distinguished University Professor of Psychology and Women's Studies at the University of Michigan (UM) and director of the UM ADVANCE Program, a National Science Foundation grant-funded project to promote diversity with respect to women faculty in science and engineering. The entire BNL community is invited to attend the talk.

Beginning in 2001, UM undertook a campus-wide effort to increase the diversity of the faculty in science and engineering. Recognizing that organizational change was a necessary precondition for the success of these efforts, the university has focused on recruitment, prevailing attitudes, and institutional policies. Stewart will describe areas in which the university has been relatively successful and areas in which progress has been slow. She will conclude with suggestions about efforts that might be fruitful for other institutions.

Stewart received a B.A. from Wesleyan University, an M.Sc. from the London School of Economics, and a Ph.D. in psychology from Harvard University. She was director of UM's Women's Studies Program from 1989 to 1995, and director of UM's Institute for Research on Women and Gender from 1995 to 2002. From 2002 to 2004, she was Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in UM's College of Literature, Science and the Arts.

Before joining UM, Stewart was on the faculty of Boston University from 1975 to 1987. She has received many awards, including the American Psychological Association's Henry Murray Award for research in personality psychology, and the Carolyn Wood Sherif Award for research on the psychology of women. She has published over 100 scholarly articles and several books, focusing on the psychology of women's lives, personality, and adaptation to personal and social changes.

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