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The Best Job in the World

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Mom the Chemistry Professor

Abstract

I often tell people I have the best job in the world. But more precisely, I have two of the best jobs in the world: being a mom and being a professor.  How I ended up where I am today, with both of these jobs, is a story of accepting opportunities and overcoming challenges.

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Acknowledgments

It should already be abundantly clear from this chapter that I have many people to thank. First and foremost, I am indebted to my family, including my husband (Bruce), parents (Ed and Judy) and parents-in-law (Anne, Henry, Reba, and Leland), brothers, brother-in-law and sisters-in-law (Mike, Yumei, Russ, Julia, Libby, Rolf, Susan, Laura, and Heidi) who gave in so many ways to me and my children over the years and enabled me to succeed in the two “best jobs in the world.” I am eternally grateful for the time I had with my late husband, Brian; it was far too brief, but it helped shape who I am both as a mother and as a scientist. At its core, this is a story about being a mom, so it would not be complete without expressing my gratitude to my children (Rachel and Drew) and stepchildren (Daniel and Andrew) who have always shown tremendous support of my career and have made it all worthwhile. Special thanks to my sister-in-law Susan Fletcher and colleague Matt Abrahams, who gave insightful and encouraging feedback on an early draft. I would also like to express deep appreciation to my many colleagues and mentors who have given support and encouragement to me throughout the years and to my students and postdocs who have shared this journey of scientific discovery with me.

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Authors and Affiliations

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Correspondence to Stacey F. Bent .

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About the Author

About the Author

Education and Professional Career

1987:

BS Chemical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA

1992:

PhD Chemistry, Stanford University, CA

1992–1993:

Postdoctoral Fellow, AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ

1994–1998:

Assistant Professor of Chemistry, New York University, NY

1998–2002:

Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University

2002–2005:

Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University

2005–present:

Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University

2012–present:

Jagdeep and Roshni Singh Professor, Stanford University

2015–2016:

Department Chair, Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University

2016–present:

Senior Associate Dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs, School of Engineering

Honors and Awards (Selected)

2018:

ACS Award in Surface Chemistry

2013:

Bert and Candace Forbes University Fellow in Undergraduate Education

2013:

Fellow of the American Chemical Society (ACS)

2013:

Stanford University Medal for Faculty Excellence Fostering Undergraduate Research

2006:

Fellow of the American Vacuum Society (AVS)

2006:

Tau Beta Pi Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching

2001:

Coblentz Award for Molecular Spectroscopy, Coblentz Society

2000:

Peter Mark Memorial Award of the American Vacuum Society

1998–2003:

Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award

1998:

Research Corporation Cottrell Scholar

1997–2000:

Beckman Young Investigator Award

1995–2000:

National Science Foundation CAREER Award

Stacey is active in research on understanding and controlling surface and interfacial chemistry and applying this knowledge to problems in semiconductor processing, nanoelectronics, and sustainable energy. She holds courtesy faculty appointments in the Departments of Chemistry, Materials Science and Engineering, and Electrical Engineering at Stanford University.

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Bent, S.F. (2018). The Best Job in the World. In: Woznack, K., Charlebois, A., Cole, R., Marzabadi, C., Webster, G. (eds) Mom the Chemistry Professor . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78972-9_3

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