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In a world in which men continue to dominate the field of biomedical research, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Dean Anthony Carruthers, PhD, urged the 56 newly qualified PhD candidates to “exorcise the structural and societal demons that exclude women from the academy’s faculty.”
In his address to students at the annual GSBS qualifying exam recognition ceremony on Sept. 10, Dean Carruthers quoted from the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, highlighting the need to accelerate the changing status of women to improve the human condition.
“This afternoon, 55 percent of students recognized are women,” noted Carruthers, professor of biochemistry & molecular pharmacology and microbiology & physiological systems. “I challenge each of us to exorcise the structural and societal demons that exclude women from the academy’s faculty and to work toward building a faculty in the coming decades that reflects the demographics of today’s doctoral candidates.”
The transition from classroom-based training to the lab is a significant one in the life of a doctoral degree candidate and Carruthers encouraged the students to advocate for the role of science in society, remain faithful stewards of the resources afforded them and to be faithful practitioners of their skills once their formal training is complete.
Chancellor Michael F. Collins told the students that they and their predecessors play an integral role in the research accomplishments of the university. He added that the graduate students contribute to the ongoing education, patient care and research in the commonwealth after graduation—96 percent of the GSBS Class of 2015 obtained postgraduate employment, with 61 of those positions in Massachusetts.
Associate Dean Mary Ellen Lane, PhD, associate professor of neurobiology, recognized the students who were admitted to doctoral candidacy in the academic year 2014-15. Those students are:
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