The Window of Opportunity

Abstract

As a beginning graduate student, well before I even met the man I would eventually marry, I recall considering my future. I was training to become a scientist, but would I find a partner? Would my career path allow me to have a family? Although these basic personal choices had always seemed inevitable to me as a child, in the frenetic schedule of a chemical physics graduate student they were anything but given. At that point, studies showing the impact of advanced education on women’s personal lives had yet to appear [1]. Still, it seemed clear; the likelihood of finding a partner while spending almost all my waking hours working on science was probably pretty small. After many musings, I made an active decision: the rich career afforded by my advanced degree would fulfill me whether I married or not, or had a family. This decision played a role in my success as a graduate student. It allowed me to focus my energy on science and leave my personal life to chance. I thrived in graduate school, both academically and personally. About 2 years later, I met Pete, the man who would become my best friend, my husband, the father of my children, and the person who made it possible for me to succeed in my career as a professor and as a mother.

Main Steps in Nancy’s Career

1983:

B.A. Integrated Science and Physics, Northwestern University, IL

1990:

Ph.D. Chemical Physics, University of Colorado –Boulder, CO

1990–1992:

NSF Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Minnesota, MN

1992–1999:

Assistant Professor, Colorado State University, CO

1999–2005:

Associate Professor, Colorado State University, CO

2000–2001:

Visiting Scholar, Stanford University, CA

2005–present:

Professor, Colorado State University, CO

2005:

Fellow of the American Physical Society

2004:

Margaret Hazaleus Award, Women’s Caucus, Colorado State University

1994–1999:

National Science Foundation Investigator Award

Nancy is the founder of the NSF Chemistry REU Leadership Group. She is also University Distinguished Teaching Scholar and holds a courtesy appointment as a professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Colorado State University.