School of Physical Sciences Establishes Women in Natural Sciences Award

The School of Physical Sciences is proud to launch a new program aimed at honoring students who have enabled the success of women in the natural sciences. The Women in Natural Sciences (WiNS) award, endowed by Emeritus Professor Roger McWilliams, will provide a cash award to the recipient. Any graduate student or undergraduate student in the School of Physical Sciences is eligible, given they be involved in organizations or activities that promote women in the natural sciences. The School of Physical Sciences is proud to foster diversity and inclusion on-campus, and the goal of this award is to promote and cultivate the next generation of women leaders in science.

The first WiNS award has been awarded to Physics & Astronomy graduate student Arianna Long. Arianna co-created the Physics & Astronomy Community Excellence (PACE) peer-mentoring program for graduate students, held a strong leadership position in our campus' Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics, and has served many other roles focused on making the department a more inclusive space. She is an observational astronomer studying massive galaxy evolution in the distant universe, with plans to join the professoriate so she can continue investigating the stars and institutionalizing change in academia.