“This job is a great scientific adventure. But it’s also a great human adventure. Mankind has made giant steps forward. However, what we know is really very, very little compared to what we still have to know.”

Fabiola Gianotti,  Director-General of the European Laboratory for Particle Physics, CERN, Geneva

Supporting women in academic roles.


The Women in Academia (WIA) committee represents women engineers who have selected an academic career path.

The committee advises the Board of Directors on academic matters, provides professional development programming via webinars and SWE conference sessions, coordinates mentoring and collaboration opportunities within academia, and advocates for the success of women in the academic pipeline through
award nominations and letters of support.

Meet the

FY’24 WIA Committee

FY24 WIA Chair

Jessica
Ventura

FY’24 Women in Academia Committee Chair

FY25 WIA Chair

Gisella Lamas Samanamud

FY’25 Women in Academia Committee Chair

Work Group Leaders

Webinars
Kimberly Nickerson
Online Connections
Rebecca Reck
In-Person Networking
Jennifer Winikus & Joan Cruz
Professional Support
Jessica Kaufman


Committee Members

  • Omobolade Abioye
  • Janet Baffoe
  • Rasika Bhalerao
  • Janet Brelin-Fornari
  • Lisa Cervia
  • Margaret Chapman
  • Nandika dSouza
  • Adrienne Dula
  • Abigail Fennel
  • Deborah Fisher
  • Stephanie Gillespie
  • Gretchen Hein
  • Jersey Johnson
  • Ivy Kwok
  • Yareni Lara
  • Yanfen Li
  • Yushuang Liu
  • Anne Lucietto
  • Ayumi Kalpana Manawadu
  • Radhika Mandhanya
  • Beth McGinnis-Cavanaugh
  • Abiela Meek
  • Beth Myers
  • Jacquelyn Nagel
  • Katie Nelson
  • Diane Peters
  • Sandy Pettit
  • Kathryn Shirk
  • Shweta Shrestha
  • Karen Wawrousek

Women in Academia are in SWE’s Mentoring Network


The Society of Women Engineers is made up of members in all stages of their careers. Included are academics who have gone through the tenure process, excelled in online teaching, directed research laboratories, been successful in securing research or teaching grants, moved into administrative roles, or served as leaders in engineering.

We each can benefit by sharing our experiences
and seeking mentorship from others.