in the Jesuit Tradition - Rockhurst University

Professorship Aims to AttractWomen to ChemistryClare Boothe Luce — who fashioneda lengthy career that included anumber of professional disciplines —was born in 1903, a time whenmany doors were closed to women.Through her legacy, Rockhurst hopesto inspire more female students tomajor in chemistry.As the result of a grant totalingmore than $365,000 from the HenryLuce Foundation, Rockhurst hasawarded Mary Ann Lee, Ph.D., theClare Boothe Luce Professorship inchemistry.Through her estate, Luce establishedthe professorship program toencourage women to enter, study,graduate and teach in science,engineering and mathematics.Lee is currently the only femaletenure-track chemistry member atRockhurst and, as such, realizes herpotential to become a role modelfor students.“It’s good for both womenand men to see female Ph.D.s inchemistry,” Lee said. “If you only seemales in certain roles, you tend tothink that’s who should be doingthose things.”Lee graduated from Rockhurstin 1995 and earned her Ph.D. inanalytical chemistry in 1999 fromthe University of Kansas. She laterwas a postdoctoral fellow at the KUMed Center.This fall, Lee began teachinggeneral chemistry and instrumentalanalysis at Rockhurst. The professorshipwill allow her to devote summersto research.Lee says she hopes to provide thesame kind of mentoring to youngwomen that she received throughouther educational career, including thatof Reva Servoss, Ph.D.,professor emeritus ofchemistry at Rockhurst.Lee says thatwith a school the sizeof Rockhurst, theimpact on studentscan be greater becauseof the emphasis onhelping to developeach student’s potential.“Here you haveclasses of 15 to 30students in a generalchemistry class,” Leesaid. “That’s not theway it is at a bigschool. Students havemore opportunitiesto realize their goalsat a smaller school.”Lee’s research is focused on usingspecialized technology to gain moreinsight into how diseases of the retinaMary Ann Lee, Ph.D.progress. She plans for two students toassist her each summer as recipients ofdean’s research fellowships.Rockhurst Offers New Master of EducationThe American Council on Education recently issued a report thatemphasized the impending national shortage of teachers and estimatedthe need to educate 2.5 million teachers over the next 10 years. Rockhurst ishelping to address this problem by introducing a master of education program,which began accepting students this fall.The M.Ed. program, which is structured around a core curriculum thatemphasizes five key areas pertaining to the work of teachers, offers two tracks.The first prepares students to become certified to teach business, English,French, mathematics, social science or unified science at the secondary level.The second track provides an emphasis in literacy studies. This track isdesigned for certified teachers who are seeking a deeper understanding of thecornerstone of all teaching.“We want to offer working professionals a degree option that accommodatestheir schedules, but doesn’t sacrifice the high academic standards that characterizea Jesuit education,” said Timothy Glander, Ph.D., associate professor and chairof the Department of Education. The new program aims to more fully integrateteacher education activities with other units and departments on campus,which also is consistent with the Jesuit educational philosophy.Applications are accepted throughout the year and students are able to enterthe program in the fall, spring or summer semesters. Classes are held duringevening hours and some distance learning opportunities will become available.5 FALL 2001