Policies that Influence Gender Balance in STEM

Speakers

Kelly Mack, PhD

Vice President, AAC&U

Dr. Kelly Mack is the Vice President for Undergraduate STEM Education and Executive Director of Project Kaleidoscope at the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U). As such, she leads national efforts to reform STEM higher education that are uniquely focused on empowering STEM faculty to implement evidence based/culturally responsive pedagogies and, ultimately, graduate more students who are competitively trained and liberally educated. Prior to joining AAC&U, Dr. Mack was the Senior Program Director for the National Science Foundation (NSF) ADVANCE Program while on loan from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) where, as a Professor of Biology, she taught courses in Physiology and Endocrinology for 18 years. During her tenure at NSF, Dr. Mack managed an annual budget of approximately $17 million, and facilitated the meaningful inclusion of intersectionality into the national discourse on gender equity in the STEM disciplines while also significantly increasing the participation of predominantly undergraduate institutions, community colleges and minority serving institutions in the ADVANCE portfolio. Dr. Mack earned the BS degree in Biology from UMES and, later, the PhD degree from Howard University in Physiology. She has had extensive training and experience in the area of cancer research, with her more recent research efforts focusing primarily on the genotoxic effects of endocrine disruptors on estrogen receptor positive (ER+) and estrogen receptor negative (ER-) breast tumor cell proliferation.

Sandra Kazahn Masur, PhD

Professor, Mount Sinai School of Medicine

Dr. Sandra Kazahn Masur earned her B.A. in Biology and Aesthetics at the City College of New York (CCNY) and her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Cell Biology at Columbia University. She has held academic appointments at CCNY and Columbia University and as visiting Professor at the University of Iowa, EMBL in Heidelberg, Germany and Centre D'Etudes Nucleaires, Saclay, France. She is currently Professor of Ophthalmology at Mount Sinai where she previously held positions in Physiology & Biophysics, and Cell Biology and Anatomy. Her early training in art has been extremely helpful in generating and analyzing the visual data that underpinned her research exploring the molecular and cellular mechanisms of wound healing using the cornea as a model system. On the national level, Dr. Masur has been active in programs advancing faculty and scientists. She served as co-director of the National Eye Institute's "Fundamental Issues in Vision Research" at the Marine Biology Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA (20012010) And in strategic planning for Women in Science by the NIH Office for Research in Women's Health(2010,2014). Dr. Masur has served on the governing council of the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) and as President of the New York Society of Experimental Microscopy. She is currently chair of the Women in Cell Biology Committee of ASCB whose major objective is to provide opportunities and information useful to women and men in developing their careers in cell biology. She also chaired the Diversity Issues Committee for the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. At Mount Sinai, she was Associate Dean for Faculty Development and is the founding Director of the MSSM Office for Women's Careers. Dr Masur's work in promoting racial integration in her home community was honored by the National Conference of Christians and Jews.

Beth McCormick

Vice President, Talent Planning and Inclusion
Pfizer

Beth is Pfizer’s VP, Talent Planning and Inclusion and a member of the Worldwide Talent and Organization Capability leadership team. In this role, Beth leads Pfizer’s global talent planning and succession planning processes annually as well as provides oversight of Pfizer’s executive mentoring and coaching programs. Additionally, Beth provides executive leadership in partnership with the Pfizer’s Diversity Worldwide Leadership Council (DWLC) in driving Pfizer’s diversity agenda. Beth brings expertise and leading practices in diversity and inclusion and has focused on delivering cutting-edge talent programs for high-potentials of diverse backgrounds; driving leadership, development and engagement programming through employee networking groups; and collaborating with HR colleagues and line leaders to identify organizational priorities for talent planning and diversity and inclusion that are linked to business goals and underpin strategic people and talent initiatives.

Beth is an experienced talent professional, who returned to Pfizer in August 2012 after leading D&I for the Institutional Securities Group of Morgan Stanley. Beth has held global diversity and inclusion roles at UBS AG and began her career in this space at Catalyst, a leading nonprofit focused on the advancement of women. Beth earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and English Writing from Saint Mary’s College (Notre Dame, IN) and a Masters in Business Administration from New York University, Stern School of Business.