USD Magazine Fall 2015

TORERO  NEWS

From left to right are new USD professors Joan Schellinger, Jessica Bell, Jennifer Prairie, Molly Burke, Divya Sitaraman, Amanda Ruiz, Odesma Dalrymple and Imane Khalil.

A year in, STEM cohort i s commi tted to working together [ u n i t y ] CONFIDENCE BUILDERS

NICK ABADILLA

by Liz Harman

L

ast fall, the University of San Diego began an ambitious effort to

a cohort of eight women STEM (Science, Technology, Engineer- ing and Mathematics) professors has firmly taken root on campus. A collaborative spirit, plans for innovative new courses and research, and a club to promote women in STEM are just a few

signs of the group’s cohesion. “They’re very committed to bringing ideas and change to the university,” says Biology Professor Lisa Baird, one of the leaders of the initiative. While each of them would have surely had great success on her own,

working together has made their impact even greater. “They were clearly identified as a cohort; they have worked together that way and that has been a unique and very special piece of the effort,” says Baird. With women comprising

increase the number of women faculty in science, and become a national model for undergrad- uate institutions striving to increase diversity. A year later,

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