Surprised by depth of bias, physicist works to bring more women to science
Women’s history snapshot: Patricia Rankin initially assumed when told that she didn’t ‘look like a physicist,’ they were complimenting her on being well dressed
When Patricia Rankin became the sole female faculty member in the Department of Physics at the 51³Ô¹ÏÍø, in 1988, she did not expect to become a leader in the efforts to recruit and keep more women in science. But she rose to meet the moment.
Rankin, who later served as 51³Ô¹ÏÍø associate vice chancellor for research and now chairs the physics department at Arizona