UMass Amherst - Women of UMass Amherst: Profiles of Achievement

Doing very, very good science is one of the standards that Professor Lila Gierasch sets in her lab. One of UMass Amherst's top researchers, she is a world-renowned leader in her area of biochemistry, and remains committed to teaching both undergraduate and graduate students. More…
A former collegiate swimmer, Lieselle Trinidad brings both her competitive sports background and her passion to technology to her graduate studies in biomechanical engineering at UMass Amherst. Her research focusing on the design and optimization of assistive and rehabilitation devices is a collaborative effort between departments in engineering and the biomechanics lab in exercise science. More… (PDF)
When Shan Shan Sheng MFA '87 was a student at UMass Amherst, she painted a six by nine foot canvas for the stairway of the library. That mural is dwarfed by the installations Sheng has created since. Her installations appear all over the world, including in the lobby of the third tallest building in the world. More…
In just her first years as UMass field hockey coach, Justine Sowry was named Division I Coach of the Year by WomensFieldHockey.com. She led the Minutewomen to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2001. In Atlantic 10 Conference play, UMass went 6-1 to claim a share of the regular season title. More…
Jennifer Braceras '89 headed to Washington DC after graduation, landing a job in the first Bush administration. After returning to New England to earn a law degree from Harvard, the self-described “conservative feminist” has built a career around dispelling the notion that conservatives are anti-civil rights. More… (PDF)
Dot Dunklee Gavin '43, a tireless civic leader and volunteer, has given back to UMass Amherst by establishing, along with her husband, Joseph, the Edna Skinner Legacy Fund, in honor of the founder of the study of home economics of the then Massachusetts State College. Within that center, with another endowment, they established the Tay Gavin Erickson Lecture Series. More…
Katie Huston '08, a journalism major, is one of 40 students nationwide this year to be awarded a Marshall Scholarship—the first UMass Amherst student in thirty years to receive the award. With her scholarship, Huston plans to study at the University of Sussex, where she will pursue master’s degrees in global political economy and human rights. More…
Researcher Elizabeth Bertone-Johnson has received a five-year, $868,857 grant from the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Institutes of Health to study women’s mental health, with special emphasis on premenstrual syndrome and the role vitamin D may play in counteracting its effects on women. More…