In 2022, Valerie S. Ashby of the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) made history by becoming the first college president to receive the Technologist of the Year Award at the Women of Color in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Conference.
Mei Cai, the 2021 Technologist of the Year, passed the torch to Dr. Ashby and highlighted her accomplishments as a decorated scientist, educator, inventor, and advocate for STEM diversity and inclusion.
In a video message, Dr. Freeman Hrabowski, who had recently retired as UMBC's president, congratulated Dr. Ashby and praised her for breaking barriers throughout her life.
He recounted her journey from being a student at Chapel Hill to becoming a polymer chemist research scientist in Germany, and then chairing the chemistry department at her alma mater, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
After that, she became the first Black woman dean of the Trinity College of Arts and Sciences at Duke University. In August 2022, she became the first Black woman president of a research university in Maryland.
During her acceptance speech, Dr. Ashby expressed her gratitude for being chosen as Technologist of the Year and her excitement at leading an institution that embodies and models inclusive excellence.
She praised the conference theme, "The Struggle. The Progress. The Future," and reflected on her own struggles as a student and an academic.
She talked about how her experiences of feeling like an impostor and lacking representation in academia led her to become a teacher, mentor, and advocate for scholars of color.
The Women of Color STEM Conference has been honoring outstanding women in STEM since 1997 when Sherry F. Bellamy became the first Technologist of the Year.
Dr. Ashby is the fourteenth woman of African American descent to receive the top award.
Previous recipients of African American descent include vice presidents and C-suite executives from companies such as Fannie Mae, Scientific Atlanta, Walmart, Northrop Grumman, The Boeing Company, General Motors, and Intel Corporation, as well as researchers, professors, and government officials.
