Five Women Scholars Honored With Prestigious Awards

Mary Elizabeth Hatten, the Frederick P. Rose Professor of Developmental Neurobiology at Rockefeller University in New York City, received the 2017 Ralph W. Gerard Prize from the Society for Neuroscience. The award honors lifetime achievement in the field.

Professor Hatten joined the faculty at Rockefeller University in 1992 and is the first woman to lead a research laboratory at the university. She is a graduate of Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia, and holds a Ph.D. in biochemical sciences from Princeton University.

Laura Micheletti Puaca, an associate professor of history at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia, won the 2017 Margaret W. Rossiter History of Women in Science Award from the History of Science Society. Dr. Puaca was honored for her book Searching for Scientific Womanpower: Technocratic Feminism and the Politics of National Security, 1940-1980 (University of North Carolina Press, 2014).

Dr. Puaca is a graduate of Rutgers University in New Jersey, where she majored in history and women’s studies. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Beth Wilson, a professor of systems engineering in the Corporate & Professional Education division of Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, received the 2017 Exemplary Teaching Award from the University Professional & Continuing Educational Association.

Dr. Wilson is a graduate of the University at Buffalo of the State University of New York System. She holds a master’s degree from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and a Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Rhode Island.

Nicole Lautze, a researcher at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, won the 2017 Clean Energy Education and Empowerment Education Award from the Clean Energy Ministerial, a group of 25 countries who are leading the transition to clean energy technologies.

Dr. Lautze is a summa cum laude graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles, where she majored in geology. She holds a Ph.D. in geology and geophysics from the University of Hawaii.

Kelli McMahan, associate clinical professor and coordinator of outdoor education and leadership at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, received the 2017 Paul K. Petzoldt Leadership Award from the Wilderness Education Association.

Dr. McMahan is a graduate of Baylor University. She holds a master’s degree from Oklahoma State University and a Ph.D. in recreation, park, and tourism sciences from Texas A&M University.