The Women's League continues its service for women in the MIT community this March with the ninth in a series of informal get-togethers that explore the role of women in the academy.
Women's League breakfasts are scheduled early enough on weekdays to encourage women with work responsibilities to participate. Each breakfast features an elegant menu, a faculty or staff guest speaker and the opportunity for informal conversation with colleagues.
The next breakfast will be Wednesday, March 14 from 8-9:30am. The guest speaker is Evelynn M. Hammonds, associate professor of the history of science in the Program in Science, Technology, and Society.
Professor Hammonds is a specialist in the history of American medicine, public health and issues involving gender, race and science. In 1994, she was co-organizer of the history section of the conference, "Black Women in the Academy: Defending Our Name, 1984-1994." The conference, the first national meeting to focus on the special issues and scholarship of black women in higher education, brought more than 1,500 academics to MIT.
Most recently, Professor Hammonds was appointed to the 12-member Council on Faculty Diversity, co-chaired by Provost Robert Brown, Associate Provost Philip Clay and Biology Professor Nancy Hopkins. The council's charge is to aggressively promote the racial and gender diversity of the faculty.
Professor Hammonds's research is in the history of medicine and public health in the United States, with a special focus on the study of race and gender in science and medicine. She is author of the forthcoming The Search for Perfect Control: A Social History of Diphtheria in New York City, 1880-1930.
Seating for each breakfast is limited; seats may be reserved by purchasing a first-come, first-served ticket for $10 from Sis de Bordenave, staff associate in the Women's League office, Rm 10-342.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on February 28, 2001.
