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Debra Rolison - CQD Distinguished Speaker2:00 p.m.
May 2, 2008
Tech L324
Dr. Debra Rolison, Naval Research Laboratory
"Creating S&T Professional and Institutional Change through Subversion, Revolution, and
Meteorology" | Abstract: The inability of research universities to diversify their faculty is a national disgrace in
that these universities recruit for students that reflect the face of America, but have not yet
incorporated that pool of talent onto their faculty. Similar difficulties are apparent among the
scientific staff of national/federal laboratories. The U.S. must escape our still too-white and toomale
universe to stay at the forefront of science? a leader would not stand still for less. But how
can one person change the world of science?? especially the concerned junior scientist at the
undergraduate, graduate student, or postdoctoral level? Subvert the standard operating
procedure. Create a microclimate that shows? over time? how new patterns of operation and
inclusiveness yield productive, innovative science. Use the scientific capital and street
credentials accrued over time, thanks to the humane microclimate and research productivity of
one's team, to challenge the status quo with reasoned and bold arguments for change. Remember
the importance of uppity behavior and applying "tipping point" mechanisms to move beyond
initial reactions of dismissal (such as greeted my audacious suggestion in March 2000 to
withhold federal funds from non-diversified chemistry departments through application of Title
IX) to? over time? accepted inevitability. Ask the leaders of our S&T institutions the
following: how good can American science, engineering, mathematics, and technology (STEM)
be when we are missing two-thirds of the talent? Learn to demand that our world of science be
one that truly relishes the talent residing across the American populace.
Bio: Debra Rolison received a B. S. in Chemistry from Florida Atlantic University in 1975 and a
Ph. D. in Chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1980 under the
direction of Royce W. Murray. Rolison joined the Naval Research Laboratory as a research
chemist in 1980 and currently heads the Advanced Electrochemical Materials section. She is
also an Adjunct Professor of Chemistry at the University of Utah. Her research at the NRL
focuses on multifunctional nanoarchitectures, with emphasis on new nanostructured materials for
catalytic chemistries, energy storage and conversion, biomolecular composites, porous magnets,
and sensors.
Dr. Rolison is a Fellow of the AAAS, AWIS, and MRS. She co-authored Ultramicroelectrodes,
the first text on this active area (1987), with M. Fleischmann, S. Pons, and P. Schmidt. She guest
edited (with H. S. White) an issue of Langmuir devoted to “Electrochemistry of Nanostructured
Materials” (February 1999), a Festschrift in honor of Royce Murray (with R. L. McCarley and
R. M. Wightman) in the Journal of Physical Chemistry B (September 2001), and a volume of the
Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids on nanoarchitectures (December 2004). Her Editorial
Advisory Board service includes Analytical Chemistry, Langmuir, Journal of Electroanalytical
Chemistry, and inaugural board membership at Nano Letters, the Encyclopedia of Nanoscience
and Nanotechnology, and Annual Review in Analytical Chemistry. She was a member of the
Board of Directors of SEAC (1996–2001) and served as Editor of SEAC Communications
(1997–2002). She chaired the 2001 Gordon Research Conference on Electrochemistry, the 2003
International Symposium on Aerogels, and co-chaired the 12th-15th NSF Materials Chemistry
Workshops (2004-2008). She was named the 2005 Distinguished Alumna of the Charles E.
Schmidt College of Science of Florida Atlantic University.
Rolison has written over 160 refereed journal publications, book chapters, and reports, been
awarded 18 U. S. patents (with 7 pending). She also writes and lectures widely on issues
affecting women in science. In 2000, she proposed using Title IX, which prohibits
discrimination in any educational “program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance,” to
evaluate academic Science & Engineering departments. Her strategy was echoed in the 2004
General Accountability Office report Women's Participation in the Sciences Has Increased, but
Agencies Need to Do More to Ensure Compliance with Title IX, which recommended that the
U.S. Congress direct the agencies that fund scientific research to “take actions to ensure
compliance reviews of grantees are conducted as required by Title IX.” |
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