One is a physician and the first woman to complete the OB/GYN residency at Yale.
Another has 40 years of experience in computer technology and is the managing general partner of a venture capital group that specializes in tech startups.
Others are ardent environmentalists – artists, writers and activists who got their roots at Connecticut College.
The support of these women – all of them graduates between 1952 and 1972 – and a grant from the Sherman Fairchild Foundation formed the initial foundation of support for the Science Center at New London Hall.
When these alumnae graduated, it was still unusual for women to pursue careers in science, computers and math. For some, the encouragement they got from their professors is part of the reason they support the new Science Center.
“Working with professors like Jeanne Prokesch and Trudy Smith in the 1960s had a huge impact on me,” said Mary Lake Polan ’65 P’02 ’10, a chemistry major who went on to become a physician. “They taught me that women have a place in the sciences.”
The Science Center at New London Hall is made possible by the generosity of:
The Sherman Fairchild Foundation
The George I. Alden Trust
The Booth Ferris Foundation
The William Randolph Hearst Foundation
Anonymous Alumna
Judith Ammerman Brielmaier '60
Marshall & Margaret Bartlett P'93 '97
Bradford and Jane Brown P'12 '15
Elizabeth Castle Halsey '73 P'00
David & Sara Kelso P'09
Linda J. Lear '62
Susan Eckert Lynch '62
Helen Fricke Mathieson '52
Judith Tindal Opatrny '72
Mary Lake Polan '65 P'02 '10
Frances Gillmore Pratt '60 P'89
Jean C. Tempel ’65