Donna J. Nelson

Donna J. Nelson's oral history begins with a discussion of her childhood in Eufaula, Oklahoma—a small town with Native American influences that grew into a much larger town throughout her youth. Heavily influenced by her parents, Nelson was a motivated student who wanted to work with and help people as her step-father, the town's only physician, had done. Nelson entered the University of Oklahoma with the intentions of pursuing medicine and possibly majoring in math. After joining the chemistry department, Nelson was immediately confronted with the contrasts between female and male students; she excelled in the coursework but needed to work harder in the laboratory to maintain parity with the male students (the male students, Nelson believed, were used to the manual dexterity of lab work from experienceworking on cars). After graduating, Nelson spent a brief time working on MINDO/3 calculations at Auburn University for Philip B. Shevlin and S. David Worley. There Nelsondecided that, for graduate school, she only wanted to work with Michael J. S. Dewar at the University of Texas at Austin who developed the methodology. Near the end of her time in Austin, Dewar helped Nelson secure a post-doctoral position with Herbert C. Brown at Purdue University, where she became Brown's first female post-doctorate. Nelson described her work and other experiences under Brown, which included giving birth to her son Christopher and returning to lab the following week. After detailing her early experiences as the first tenure-track female faculty member of the University of Oklahoma chemistry department, Nelson moved on to explaining the importance of listening to women's experiences in order to help develop true parity in the scientific community. Throughout the interview Nelson referenced what she learned as a member of a Women in Science group at Purdue, and also what she learned by seeking advice from colleagues, that is, that "the best path to follow is a well-educated decision; no one can tell you what to do or what is best for you, but their experiences can help you to shape your own decisions." Nelson continued the interview by explaining how a 2000 C&E News article, prompted her to conduct a survey of women and minorities in the top chemistry departments. She described the initial survey work that led to further surveys of other disciplines whose departments were ranked by the National Science Foundation. Her survey work and research have been quoted in such varied places as Ms. Magazine and Harvard University's chemistry department Web site. Since the survey work, much of Nelson's time has been spent researching issues surrounding women and minorities in chemistry and the sciences and working with Marye Anne Fox at University of California, San Diego, as well as with SACNAS.

Purdue University

1980 - 1983 Post-Doctorate, Chemistry, with Herbert C. Brown

University of Oklahoma

1983 - 1990 Assistant Professor, Chemistry

University of Oklahoma

1989 - 1990 Provost's Faculty Administrative Fellow

University of Oklahoma

1990 - Present Associate Professor, Chemistry

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

2003 - 2004 Visiting Professor

University of Oklahoma

2005 - 2007 Assistant to ACS President Ann Nalley

University of Oklahoma

2008 Organic Division Chair, Chemistry

University of Oklahoma

2008 Development Officer, Chemistry

Hilary Domush

Hilary Domush completed a B.S. in chemistry at Bates College before earning an M.S. in organic chemistry and an M.A. in the history of science at the University of Wisconsin. As a graduate student, her research focused on 19th-century chemistry in Edinburgh.

As program associate for the oral history program, Domush helps manage the program and conducts oral histories for the Women in Chemistry project.

Leah Webb-Halpern

Leah Webb-Halpern graduated from Smith College with a major in history and a minor in Latin American studies. Prior to joining the Chemical Heritage Foundation as an oral history program assistant, she was a research assistant at the McNeil Center for Early American Studies. Leah has moved on from the CHF and is currently a Ph.D. student in the Department of History at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.