Dear ARCS Phoenix Chapter Members,
Spring is here and we have been busy at the Phoenix Chapter preparing for our Awards Dinner.
The National January Board Meeting was held in Tempe with great scholar presentations and tours and a productive strategic planning session. It was great to soak up the energy of being on campus. My favorite parts were the food delivery robots and the cup cleaning dispenser at Starbuck’s.
There was a site visit in March at ASU with several scholars presenting their posters and allowing us to tour their labs. Don’t ask me what they were researching. I couldn’t begin to explain. View photos here
I learned on a Council of Presidents call that our chapter is unique in having site visits with all three schools in one year. Some of the chapters are slow to re-instate site visits after the pandemic and others rotate as allowed by National with a university site visit every three years.
There was a fun and informative field trip to Foundation for Blind Children followed by lunch at Aunt Chilada’s thanks to Andrea Moseley. They do great work and with a change in their staffing, we may see more marketing from them to tout their outstanding services. View photos here
And let’s not forget Barbie! According to Mattel, Barbie herself has held more than 40 different STEM careers, including astrophysicist, space scientist, doctor and robotics engineer. While women in the real world make up half of the US workforce, they still only make up less than one-third of the STEM workforce. Renowned British primatologist Jane Goodall also got her own Barbie in 2022 as part of the Inspiring Women Series of Barbie dolls that are based on women who have been prominent figures in history.
The group includes Susan Wojcicki, the 16th employee at Google and is stepping back in her leadership role at YouTube. They actually started Google in her garage. Other women STEM trailblazers from around the world such as Maggie Aderin-Pocock, a space scientist and educator from the United Kingdon; Antje Boetius, a marine researcher and microbiologist from Germany; Li Yinuo, co-founder of ETU Education, a school startup in China that offers a more personalized education; and Katya Echazarreta, an electrical engineer who has worked on five NASA missions and the first woman born in Mexico to travel to space will also have their own doll.
Last, our Nominating Committee has come up with an outstanding slate for 23-24 leadership. The notice will be in your inbox soon so we can welcome in a new group of leaders for the chapter.
I hope you will all join me and our scholars at the Awards Dinner, April 21st at Phoenix Country Club. It should be another great dinner thanks to Sydney Fox and Patti Tucker.
