February 20, 2006

Chancellor Denton addresses diversity issues at national conferences

Chancellor Denice D. Denton addressed diversity issues at two recent national conferences. Last week, she spoke on a panel at a conference on Women and Leadership at Stanford University. In January, she delivered the keynote address and served on a panel at a workshop in Arlington, Virginia, on women in chemistry.

The January meeting, "Building Strong Academic Chemistry Departments Through Gender Equity," was sponsored by the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, and National Institutes of Health. Joseph Konopelski, professor and chair of chemistry and biochemistry at UCSC, also participated in the conference, which involved 55 chemistry department chairs and 60 other academic, government, and national chemistry leaders.

Recognizing the importance of a diverse workforce in maintaining the U.S. strength in science and engineering, the participants identified specific strategies that chemistry departments, universities, and federal agencies can implement to encourage and enable broader participation by women in academic chemistry departments.

Additional information about the workshop can be found on the web at www.chem.harvard.edu/groups/friend/GenderEquityWorkshop/.

The Women and Leadership Conference at Stanford brought together some of the nation's preeminent scholars from diverse disciplinary backgrounds. Chancellor Denton served on a panel on "Women, Power and Presidents: The Academy and the Nation," along with UC Riverside Chancellor France Cordova and Marie Wilson, president of the White House Project.

Faye Crosby, professor of psychology and chair of the Academic Senate, also participated in the conference, serving on a panel on "Women, Power and Equality."

Additional information about the conference is available on the web at ethics.stanford.edu/wlconference/index.html.