Photo: Carol Sonstein

Marye Anne Fox is chancellor of the University of California San Diego, and a professor of chemistry.

This article from C&EN 2007 caught our eye recently. Fox is putting feminism in action by being appointed to a position of power, and we respect her greatly. Moving from lab to classroom to chancellor, Fox is a great role model for Feminist Chemists.

When asked: “UC San Diego has a very high enrollment of women, but in the U.S. in general, this hasn’t translated into women in academic careers in science and engineering. What is missing?”

Fox replied: “We are indeed very proud that so many women are interested in science and engineering here. But you correctly capture the challenge we face in recruiting women to academic positions, whether it’s faculty or administration. I can’t tell you why that is. I can tell you we work very hard to make sure there is gender equity in candidate pools and that the evaluation of work from men and women is fair and equitable.”

Given recent conflicting reports regarding academic hiring of women, we find it informative that even powerful women like Fox, doing everything that they can to increase equity in STEM, still have more questions than answers. And unfortunately, there are still more men than women.

Keep up the great work Mary Anne Fox, you are a beacon of hope.