Posted April 29, 2019 by Ashley Washburn
World-renowned bioscientist Rebecca Richards-Kortum is the featured speaker at an Association for Women in Science luncheon on Friday from 11:30 a.m-1 p.m. in the Nebraska Union Colonial Room. University of Nebraska-Lincoln faculty, staff and students are encouraged to attend this special event with Saturday’s undergraduate commencement speaker.
The Malcolm Gillis University Professor of Bioengineering at Rice University, Richards-Kortum has focused her research and teaching around her belief that all people deserve access to health innovations. She has developed low-cost, high-performance technologies that can be used in remote or under-resourced locations to rapidly diagnose health conditions known for high morbidity and mortality, including cervical and oral cancers, preterm birth, sickle cell disease and malaria.
A Nebraska alumna, Richards-Kortum has achieved some of the world’s highest scientific honors, including being named one of the world’s 50 greatest leaders by Forbes magazine in 2017 and earning a MacArthur Foundation fellowship in 2016. She is a fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, National Academy of Inventors and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
During the luncheon, attendees will have opportunities to discuss ways to promote and nurture STEM diversity at Nebraska, connect with colleagues and learn about AWIS’s mission to foster a campus culture that increases women’s participation and impact in STEM disciplines.
The event is co-hosted by the Office of the Chancellor and the AWIS Institutional Partnership Steering Committee. Registration is required. For more information, contact Deb Hamernik, associate vice chancellor for research, 402-472-2851.
