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WOMEN
IN PLANT BIOLOGY
“We’re
Changing the World!”
Although the National
Science Foundation (NSF) has played a pivotal role in supporting basic
research in science and engineering in the United States for more than
50 years, it is remarkable how little known the agency is to the general
public. I recently showed my agency identity badge at an airport security
check and was promptly ushered into the holding area for an extra-thorough
body and luggage search. The Transportation Security Administration employee
did not recognize the NSF name and was concerned that perhaps the ID was
a fake. Whereas most scientists know quite a bit more than that, or at
least know about the directorate that funds their research area, they
often know a lot less about the people who work there. I’d like to
take this opportunity to write about one person at NSF whose career has
had an extraordinary impact on women in science, including me.Her name
is Mary Clutter and, for baby-boomer scientists, she has been the face
of the Biology Directorate for most if not all of their careers. I had
the privilege of working for Mary for the past six years, and now that
she has retired I am at liberty to share my observations of why she has
been so successful in fostering women in science.
Mary recognized early
on that women did not have access to the same career opportunities that
men had. We can laugh now at television advertisements from the 1950s
showing women taking great pride in their new kitchen appliances, but
truly there were very few career choices at that time. Instead of passively
bemoaning the lack of opportunity for women researchers, Mary did something
about it. Women in Cell Biology (WICB; http://www.ascb.org/index.cfm?navid=89)
came out of a discussion among a small group of women, including Mary,
on the eve of the 1971 annual meeting of the American Society for Cell
Biology. The group was dissatisfied with the status of women in cell biology.
They noted the small number of women faculty, many untenured, and the
lack of women invited to give seminars or speak at meetings. As documented
in a wonderful pair of articles by Laura Williams (http://www.ascb.org/index.cfm?navid=112&id=1531&tcode=nws3;
http://www.ascb.org/index.cfm?navid=112&id=1533&tcode=nws3),
these small beginnings grew into a vital group that has had significant
impact within the society and in biology at large. Mary continued with
her active support of career development for women throughout her career
at NSF, ensuring that women were represented equally on panels and at
NSF-supported meetings. These opportunities were, and are, critical to
development of successful careers.
Good role models resemble
someone you would like to be, not just in accomplishments but also in
personal style. Mary is quite remarkable in her ability to remain graceful
under pressure. She once joined a plant genome site visit that really
tested these skills. We stayed at a hotel recommended by the principal
investigator leading the project we were to visit. I know that the members
of the site visit team reading this article will remember the hotel. The
rooms were dirty and noisy, and at least one contained a health hazard.
The worst part of the experience for the NSF staff was attempting to distract
Mary so that she would not see the enormous cockroach running past her
breakfast. We thought that we had succeeded in this effort, but I realized
later that we had not. Mary laughed at each dreadful discovery at the
hotel, but she also made sure that none of her staff ever had to stay
there again.
Mary has always been
very approachable and has never waited for others to seek her out. She
made a point of meeting with as many people as possible on her trips,
including students and postdocs. It made a great impact to be able to
talk to someone like Mary at such a junior stage of my career. Even inside
NSF, Mary would walk down the hall when she was working at night or on
the weekends to see who was around and interested in talking about the
important issues of the moment. I learned a lot from those informal talks.
By the way, the weather was never a deterrent to such visits. When government
offices closed down during a major snowstorm three years ago, I struggled
across the street from my apartment to take care of some urgent tasks.
As I sat in the still, dark NSF building congratulating myself on my commitment
to the agency, Mary appeared in my office. She had walked out in the snowstorm
and taken the Metro to get there. I didn’t feel quite so self-congratulatory
after that.
The best part of working
with Mary is seeing her excitement in everything she does. Whether she
is participating in a spirited debate about funding a project or looking
for the “green flash” as the sun sets over the Pacific, Mary
is always enthusiastic about new ideas. The Plant Genome Research Program
owes its visionary structure and much of its remarkable impact to Mary’s
ability to embrace new ideas. Each year she addressed the participants
at the Annual Plant Genome Awardee Meeting held at NSF. This venue enabled
Mary to find out what was on the minds of the awardees and to tell them
what was on her mind. One meeting stands out for me. Mary talked about
the work supported at NSF and the tremendous effect it was having on advancing
basic knowledge in plant biology as well as training a new generation
of scientists. She ended by saying, “We’re changing the world!”
Yes, we are, Mary, and in no small part, because of you.
Jane Silverthorne
Program Director
Plant Genome Research Program
National Science Foundation
jsilvert@nsf.gov
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