Women in STEM Lecture Series
The Women in STEM (WoSTEM) lecture series engages members of the community to share experiences and foster inspiration and camaraderie. The WoSTEM lecture series is spearheaded by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and University Libraries. The series began with an effort from Fred Barnhart, dean of University Libraries with support from Warren Montgomery in honor of his late wife, Carla Montgomery.
The advisory panel for this project consists of Heather Bergan-Roller (chair of the panel), Holly Jones and Karen Samonds from Biological Sciences, Elizabeth Gaillard and Irinia Nesterova from Chemistry and Biochemistry, Anna Klis from Economics, and Allison Amberg and Meredith Ayers from University Libraries.
Our mission is to engage with students, faculty and members of the community and share their profound experiences. The advisory panel identifies prolific speakers to be featured in this series.
Upcoming Events
Get Involved
Sign up for one of our WoSTEM events by contacting wostem-info@niu.edu and let us know if you have suggestions about future speakers, would like to join this community or would like to donate to the cause.
Previous Events
- In fall 2025, we hosted several events including:
- A talk from Department of Psychology professor Lisa Finkelstein on “Aging at Work While Studying Aging at Work: A Meta Perspective”
- A community social
- A talk from University of Chicago Department of Chemistry professor Yamuna Krishnan on “Next-gen Targeting has Organelle-level Specificity”
- In the 2024-25 academic year, we hosted a social, an awards ceremony and several prominent speakers, including:
- Courtney Gallaher on "Navigating a career in sustainability and STEM"
- Teresa M. Bals-Elsholz on "Find your rainbows (in STEM)"
- Nancy Freitag on "Science and career evolution – multiple paths can lead to the same goal"
- Carol Sumner on "Never lost: Oh, the place you have gone"
- In April 2025, we were delighted to celebrate the following for inaugural awards:
- Karen Samonds for the Carlan Montgomery Memorial Award for Faculty
- Chloé Gherardi for the Carla Montgomery Memorial Award for Graduate Students
- In March 2024, we were pleased to welcome NIU President Lisa Freeman for an engaging and inspiring conversation at Founders Memorial Library.
- The fall 2023 seminar series featured a community-building event, providing a supportive environment for all participants.
- Talk by Yvonne Harris (vice president of Research and Innovation Partnerships at NIU) on " My Journey to the Office of Vice President for Research".
- Talk by Nancy Freitag (professor and head of Pharmaceutical Sciences at UIC) on " No pain, no gain: how a common anesthetic increases the risk of microbial infection".
Awards
The Women in STEM Lecture Series is delighted to announce the launch of two awards. By establishing these awards, we will recognize and encourage scientists from various stages of their careers who have been instrumental in advancing STEM research. Each award carries a certificate and recognition at the award celebrations luncheon in April.
- Carla Montgomery Memorial Award for Faculty: faculty members who have been instrumental in promoting the upliftment of women in STEM research, teaching or community engagement.
- Carla Montgomery Memorial Award for Graduate Students: graduate students who have been instrumental in promoting the upliftment of women in STEM research, teaching or community engagement.
Criteria and Eligibility
Faculty Award
- This award is open to faculty and instructors of any STEM department across campus.
- The nominee must be a full-time employee and worked at NIU for at least two years.
- Past awardees are not eligible.
Graduate Student Award
- This award is open to graduate students of any STEM department across campus.
- The student must be an RA, TA or full-time student in any program for at least two years.
- Past awardees are not eligible.
Timetable and Deadlines
All nominations must be submitted by Thursday, April 10. Contact us at wostem-info@niu.edu with questions.
Nomination Form and Process
Nominations may be submitted by anyone in the campus community, including graduate and undergraduate students who have been taught or mentored by the nominee, faculty, staff, instructors and administrators.
More than one person can nominate someone in the same application and serve as a reference. Self-nominations will be accepted; at least one additional reference will be required.
Nominations should include a paragraph detailing the rationale for the nomination:
- Shown commitment to advancing the career and/or educational goals of NIU students, staff and/or faculty
- Consistently acts as an exemplary teacher, coach, advisor, facilitator, and resource in helping NIU students, staff and/or faculty achieve career and/or educational goals and creates opportunities that help proteges achieve their goals
- Demonstrates the characteristics of an outstanding role model within their area of expertise
