Monticello College in Godfrey, Ill., once the nation’s second oldest women’s college, is long shuttered. However, the foundation that was started after the liberal arts school for women closed its doors in 1971 is still going strong and continues to support women graduate and professional students at Washington University in St. Louis through a distinguished fellowship program.
Washington University and The Monticello College Foundation established the Mr. and Mrs. Spencer T. Olin Fellowship Program for Women in Graduate Studies in 1974 to bring outstanding women to WUSTL to pursue careers in higher education or the professions.
Since then, nearly 300 women have received advanced degrees from Washington University thanks to the fellowships, which cover full tuition costs and provide annual stipends for up to four years.
The fellowship program will recognize its 40 years on Washington University’s campus during the 40th annual Olin Fellowship Conference, “How Climates Change,” Oct. 30-31.
Jane Lubchenco, PhD, the first woman to head the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA), will give the keynote address at 11 a.m. Friday, Oct. 31, in Graham Chapel.
She will speak about climate changes — literally and figuratively — when she addresses the science of climate change as well as the change in climate for women in science.
Lubchenco, who is one of the most highly cited ecologists in the world, will also participate in a panel discussion focused on women in academe, medicine and law at 2 p.m. Oct. 31 in McMillan Café.
She will be joined by Lee Epstein, PhD, the Ethan A. H. Shepley Distinguished University Professor, who has appointments in both the School of Law and in Arts & Sciences; Victoria Fraser, MD, the Adolphus Busch Professor of Medicine and head of the Department of Medicine; and Sandra M. Moore, JD (AB ’76, JD ’79), president of St. Louis-based Urban Strategies, a not-for-profit corporation that works with developers to rebuild distressed urban core communities into vibrant, safe residential neighborhoods.
Both the lecture and panel discussion are free and open to the public.
“Dr. Lubchenco is the perfect speaker for the Olin Fellowship Program because she has enjoyed professional success, public service and a personal life, like most of the Olin alumnae,” said Nancy P. Pope, PhD, associate dean of the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, coordinator of the Olin Fellowship Program and a member of the first class of Olin fellows in 1974.
Pope, who earned both a master’s degree in 1976 and a doctorate in 1982 from the university as an Olin Fellow, says there are currently 52 Olin fellows pursuing advanced degrees at the university.
Member of Obama’s ‘science team’
Lubchenco served as NOAA’s administrator from 2009-2013 after being nominated in 2008 by then President-elect Barack Obama to serve on his “science team.”
She is a marine ecologist and environmental scientist by training, with expertise in oceans, climate change and interactions between the environment and human well-being.
Under Lubchenco’s leadership, NOAA focused on restoring sustainability and economic viability to fisheries, restoring oceans and coasts to a healthy state, protecting marine mammals and endangered species, conducting and disseminating information on climate science, providing timely weather forecasts and warnings, and maintaining the nation’s weather and environmental satellites.
Prior to her NOAA appointment, Lubchenco held the Wayne and Gladys Valley Chair in Marine Biology in the Department of Zoology at Oregon State University, where she had been on faculty for more than 30 years.
She returned to OSU in 2013, where she is the Distinguished University Professor and Adviser in Marine Studies. In this new position, she is helping coordinate and expand OSU’s international prominence in marine-related studies.
Lubchenco, the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, is a past president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Ecological Society of America and the International Council for Science.
The Olin Fellowship Program and annual conference continue to be co-sponsored by The Monticello College Foundation and Washington University.
For more information on the fellowship program, visit here. For more information on the conference events, contact Cecily Stewart Hawksworth at 314-935-6818 or email cecilyhawksworth@wustl.edu.