HGWISE Mentor of the Year Award
HGWISE Mentor of the Year 2013
We are happy to announce that Dr. Meredith Fisher, a GSAS alumna and Boston-based venture capitalist, is the 2013 HGWISE Mentor of the Year. Meredith joined the mentoring program in 2012, but her participation was really a homecoming of sorts. She was one of the original founders of HGWISE in 2005, and she has since found her way back to campus to support and empower graduate students. She juggled two mentees and talked to them in detail about what they would like to learn about and who they would like to meet. And then, she proceeded to deliver on their requests! In addition to supporting her mentees in their current work and research, she devoted a huge amount of time connecting them with people industry so they could further explore their future steps. The following quotes from her mentees demonstrate Meredith’s dedication to mentoring.
“Thanks to Meredith (and connections through her connections), I've had informational interviews with 8 individuals in a variety of positions, from venture capital to tech transfer to medical writing. Without Meredith, I never would have met these people and been able to appreciate the wide variety of options available for PhD scientists... When she's not introducing me to truly awesome people, Meredith has helped me put together a clear list of activities to focus on as I move towards graduation, so that I'll be competitive when I enter the job market. “
“Meredith invited me to networking events, to a lunch with the CEO of a biotech company, to have a tour of a startup incubator space, to go to interesting talks...and often sends me tidbits about happenings in the startup world that I would otherwise never know about. In addition, she has been totally available as a mentor on all sorts of issues - from how to dress for business occasions to strategies for making new contacts. I really admire Meredith and it has been been a wonderful experience having her has a mentor.”
Above photo Meredith Fisher with her two mentees. From left to right- Laura Stritmatter, Meredith Fisher, and Miriam Huntley. Thanks to GSAS for providing the photo.
HGWISE Mentor of the Year Nominees 2013
 Above photo from left to right - Maria Kontaridis, Suzanne Gaudet, Emily Balskus, Meredith Fisher, Elana Porro, and Anne Wang. Photo from the HGWISE Mentoring Program End of the Year Dinner; unfortunately, not all mentors were able to attend and are not pictured. Thanks to GSAS for providing this photo.
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We were pleased to receive many nominations describing amazing mentors who strove to support and encourage their mentees. Our mentors are truly the backbone of our program, and we are so grateful for their time and effort. It is clear from the flood of incredible nominations we received that there are many mentors who devote a great deal of time to their mentees and to our program. The following mentors were nominated -
1. Emily Balskus, Dept. of Chemistry - Harvard University 2. Connie Chow, Science Club for Girls 3. Meredith Fisher, Ginkgo Bioworks 4. Suzanne Gaudet, Dept. of Genetics - Beth Israel Deaconess 5. Neena Haider, Dept. of Ophthalmology – Schepens Eye Institute 6. Jenny Hoffman, Dept. of Physics – Harvard University 7. Uma Karmarkar, Business Administration- Harvard Business School 8. Maria Kontaridis, Cardiovascular Medicine- Beth Israel Deaconess 9. Elana Porro, Cell 10. Caterina Stamoulis, Radiology- Harvard Medical School 11. Anne Wang, Education Development Center |
HGWISE Mentor of the Year Award 2012
We are pleased to announce that Evelyn Hu is our 2012 HGWISE Mentor of the Year. Evelyn was chosen based on nominations from her mentees in the mentoring program. Evelyn has been in the program for the past four years and has been extremely dedicated from the start. She has juggled up to four mentees at one time and showed no indication that she was spreading herself thin. In fact, it was just the opposite. At times, she would meet with her mentees once a week if they were having a difficult semester. Evelyn was always positive and encouraging and was instrumental in helping her mentee’s through difficult times. She made her mentees feel like they could tell her anything, her relaxed attitude and patience made these women extremely comfortable in her presence. Her mentees have described her as a great listener, despite being in a completely different field from her mentees, she would provide thoughtful advice on how to approach their research questions in new ways. She would listen to presentations and help them better communicate their ideas. She made her mentees feel confident and helped them see themselves as uniquely gifted scientists.
We were excited to receive many nominations describing amazing mentors who really strove to support and encourage their mentees. Our mentors are truly the backbone of our program, and we are so grateful for their time and effort. It is clear from the flood of incredible nominations we received that there are many mentors who devote a great deal of time to their mentees and to our program. The following mentors were nominated -
1. Corinne Augelli-Szafran, Neurology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
2. Kirsten Bomblies, Organismic and Evolutionary Biology
3. Briana Burton, Molecular and Cell Biology
4. Cassandra Extavour, Organismic and Evolutionary Biology
5. Rachelle Gaudet, Molecular and Cell Biology,
6. Suzanne Gaudet, Genetics at Harvard Medical School
7. Neena Haider, Ophthalmology, Schepens Eye Institute
8. Evelyn Hu, Physics
9. Sarah Jordaan, Earth and Planetary Sciences
10. Margo Levine, Applied Mathematics
11. Rehana Patel, Mathematics
12. Catherine Stamoulis, Radiology, Children’s Hospital
13. Sheila Thomas, Hematology/Oncology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and GSAS Director of Diversity and Minority Affairs
see coverage of the 2012 HGWISE Mentor of the Year Award in on page 5 of the GSAS Bulletin here- http://www.gsas.harvard.edu/images/stories/pdfs/bulletin_oct12.pdf