Fellow Scientists Salute Susan Forsburg
Photo/Philip Channing
Forsburg and nine others were honored Feb. 18 in San Francisco at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. They join an influential group of more than 100 association fellows dedicated to achieving equity and full participation of women in science.
While saying she was honored to be chosen, Forsburg attached more importance to the influence of the award on women starting their careers in science.
“What it shows is that hard work and our efforts pay off,” she said in an interview at the ceremony. “We can be recognized by our peers. Any recognition benefits all of us.”
Women in all fields, she said, can be overlooked despite their accomplishments. An honor such as becoming AWIS fellow raises the recipient’s profile and sends a message to other women that they can succeed as well.
And, Forsburg added, “the women fellows are also great resources for women coming up in the ranks.”
Donna Dean, president of the association, praised Forsburg for her academic accomplishments (she was named one of the top 10 women in cancer research by Pink magazine) and for her Women in Biology Internet page, “a popular Web site that is accessed internationally.”
The site, http://www.womenbio.net, is packed with advice and resources for women with a Ph.D. who are seeking careers in academia or industry. Forsburg has said she is “especially proud of a comprehensive set of links to so-called ‘alternative careers’ sites as well as information about surviving every step of the academic path.”
She is also heavily involved in USC’s Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE), a highly successful program designed to increase the representation and success of women in the sciences. WiSE has attracted national attention, and Forsburg was quoted last year in an article on the program in The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Forsburg, a professor of biological sciences, is best known for her work on cell division and cancer using the test organism Schizosaccharomyces pombe, a simple, single-celled yeast species.
S. pombe is much easier to study than complex organisms, yet it shares many features with humans. Forsburg’s work on the species helps illustrate the mechanics of cell division in humans.
She is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a recipient of the Stohlman Scholar Award from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
The Association for Women in Science is the largest multidisciplinary scientific organization for women in the United States, with upwards of 3,000 members in more than 50 chapters.
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USA Today reported that USC is helping develop a car windshield display technology that would help drivers see better in inclement weather. The system, which would use an ultraviolet laser to project images on the surface of a windshield, is a collaboration among USC, General Motors and Carnegie Mellon University. ZDNet also featured the research.
The Washington Post, in an Associated Press story, featured a case that was taken on by the USC Gould School’s Post-Conviction Justice Project, involving a woman who defenders believe was wrongfully convicted of murder. Gould School student Jennifer Farrell helped to secure the woman’s release by convincing Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to defer to the parole board’s decision to release her. However, the woman, who had been a legal resident at the time of her arrest, was deported to Mexico after being released. The USC legal team will now ask the governor to pardon the woman so she can visit her children in the United States. The Orange County Register also covered the news.
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NBC News’ “NBC Nightly News” featured a project by Donna Spruijt-Metz of the Keck School of USC and Shrikanth Narayanan of the USC Viterbi School that uses text messages and other technology to improve obese Latino teens’ eating and exercise habits. “We’re recruiting technology, which is a part of the obesity problem, to fight obesity,” Spruijt-Metz said. “Cell phones are everywhere. It’s one global device,” Narayanan added.
Central News Agency (Taiwan) reported that USC has signed a memorandum of academic exchange and cooperation with Taiwan’s Ming Chuan University. USC Rossier School Dean Karen Symms Gallagher, who signed the agreement, said that this academic cooperation will allow the two schools to share resources with each other, while enhancing research, teaching quality and competitiveness. USC has been lauded by Time magazine as “University of the Year,” the story noted.
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