The agenda for the day includes a networking breakfast, several panel discussions, a keynote luncheon, and a roundtable discussion. Speakers will include Professor Mary Frank Fox of the Georgia Tech NSF ADVANCE program and Professor Karen Wooley of Washington University in St. Louis' Chemistry Department (who will also be that day's Cherry Emerson Speaker).

There is no attendance fee, but registration by September 23rd is required so that we may plan accordingly. We hope that holding this event on the Tuesday of Fall Break will allow you to attend the entire Symposium without the pressures of scheduling around classes, but feel free to sign up for the sessions that best fit your schedule and interests. We ask that you consider your registration a commitment to attend the Symposium; if your plans change, please contact me to alter your registration accordingly.

Dr. Fox is NSF Advance Professor in the School of Public Policy, and co-director, Center for the Study of Women, Science, & Technology, at Georgia Institute of Technology. Her research focuses upon gender, science, and academia--the study of women and men in academic and scientific organizations and occupations.

Her research has introduced and established ways in which participation and performance of women and men reflect and are affected by social and organizational features of science and academia. She has addressed these complex processes in a range of research encompassing education and educational programs, collaborative practices, salary rewards, publication productivity, social attributions and expectations, and academic careers. Her work appears in over 40 different scholarly and scientific journals, books, and collections.

Dr. Wooley's interests are broadly focused upon the design, synthesis, and characterization of unique polymeric materials. Macromolecular synthesis may be regarded as the application of organic, inorganic, and organometallic concepts to the production of large structures. For example, just as typical synthetic chemists prepare molecules of specific stereochemistry and connectivity, synthetic polymer chemists are increasingly attempting to prepare three-dimensionally well-defined macromolecules. We are involved in developing creative methods for the construction of new types of materials, and accurate placement of functionalities within such macromolecular systems. Many of the synthetic targets are polymers with highly precise features, tuned specifically for fundamental studies or well-defined applications. Each of the projects within the group relies on organic and polymer synthesis, with much emphasis also on the characterization and study of the properties of the compounds prepared.

Please mark October 18th on your calendars. For more information contact Shannon Watt (gtg162k@mail.gatech.edu), Polymer Representative and Women in Science Chair, Graduate Student Forum, School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology.