![]() That was something that I found fairly troubling. There were other women who majored in chemistry and were with me in graduate school, but there were no women professors. ![]() I was a chemistry major at Grinnell College. What kind of challenges did you face as a woman? You were a university professor with a PhD, at a time when there weren’t a lot of women in the sciences. I felt like I was doing something extraordinarily important not only for myself but for the country. I competed during the time of the Sputnik threat, which led to lots of outreach from companies and individuals around my state of Iowa. STS, in particular, convinced me that I was good enough to compete at the highest levels. How did STS and ISEF affect your career? We hear from a lot of alumni that it was a pivotal moment. Through ISEF, I was able to meet other students from around the country and some international students. I was the only person in my small school who was interested in scientific research and participated in science fairs. The fair was exhilarating to me because I was able to meet more students interested in science. It was very simple, but it was exciting for me. I went to a lab school that was associated with the University of Northern Iowa, and they were very encouraging, giving me space and time to do my project, which aimed to demonstrate the development of resistance in bacteria to penicillin. I was engaged in local science fairs before 1959. It was very, very meaningful, and I’ve remembered it forever. When he was killed, I couldn’t quite believe that I’d had that experience. ![]() Everybody was totally smitten with Kennedy because he was a young, fresh, energetic face of the presidency in a way that everybody was excited about. In retrospect, it was bittersweet.Īll the girls were instructed to wear white gloves and hats to the White House to meet with the president and vice president. What we didn’t understand was that Kennedy wouldn’t be with us very long after that. We knew that meeting the president was an extraordinary opportunity. Do you remember that experience, and what was that like for you? Kennedy and Vice President Lyndon Johnson while you were in DC competing in STS. I understand you had an opportunity to meet President John F.
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