L to R: Samantha Meyer Luisa Mori Alicia Angelbello Michalina Janiszewska PhD Mia Huang PhD Tesia Stephenson PhD
December 17 2019 – More than 100 guests attended the Dec. 3 launch event at Scripps Research for its new Women in Science Education (WISE) initiative, a program designed to encourage more women in science education and careers by enabling a permanent student endowment at its Skaggs Graduate School of Chemical and Biological Sciences.
In the coming months, the WISE Committee will hold a number of philanthropic events, including private dinners, a symposium on February 11 aligned with the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, and a first-of-its-kind, family-friendly “science stroll” throughout the Scripps Research campus on March 28. To register to attend any of the WISE events or for further information, please visit www.Scripps.edu/WISE or call (561) 228-2015.
“We train the next generation of scientific leaders, expand the frontiers of human knowledge and accelerate the development of new medicines to improve lives around the planet,” said Douglas Bingham, Scripps Research Executive Vice President of Florida Operations, as he welcomed guests to the event. “While women comprise only about one-third of the science workforce around the world, our Skaggs graduate program attracts women doctoral students at a rate of over 54 percent. We want to build on that momentum with WISE. For a limited time, a generous donor has offered a half-million-dollar match to enable a permanent graduate school educational endowment.”
The Skaggs graduate program is small and specialized, widely recognized for its high quality. U.S. News and World Report has ranked it #2 in the nation for biochemistry, #5 for organic chemistry, #6 for chemistry overall and #10 for biological sciences.
A leading nonprofit biomedical research institute, Scripps Research is ranked No. 1 in the world by Nature Index for scientific innovation. U.S. News and World Report consistently ranks its graduate school in the top 10 in the United States. Scripps Research’s unique structure merges foundational studies in biology, chemistry and computer science with translational research to produce the next generation of drugs and advances in digital and precision medicine. On campuses in California and Florida, scientists in the institute’s five academic research departments work hand-in-hand with researchers of the Scripps Research Translational Institute and Calibr, its drug discovery division.
The WISE committee comprises business leaders from throughout southern Florida. They are: Monique Brechter, former Executive Director of Development, Transmission at NextEra; Michele Jacobs, president and chief executive officer of the Economic Council of Palm Beach County; Karen Marcus, former Palm Beach County Commissioner; Elaine Solomon, founder and co-chair of the PGA National Women’s Cancer Awareness Days, and Patti Travis, senior managing director of First Republic Bank.
