By Nadia Reese,
AFRO Editorial Assistant
nreese@afro.com
To honor scientist and activist Dr. Shirley M. Malcom, a trailblazer for minorities in science, Penn State University renamed one of its campus buildings on April 8. Formerly known as “Innovation Park”, the building is now called the Dr. Shirley M. Malcom building.
Dr. Shirley M. Malcom was born in Birmingham, Ala. Malcom attended schools that were segregated until she completed high school at age 16. Later, she would go on to earn a bachelor’s degree in zoology at the University of Washington in Seattle and a masters in zoology from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Malcolm would go on to teach at the high school and college levels while working on programs to increase the participation of women, minorities and persons with disabilities.
“Throughout my entire time studying, I attended predominantly White but major research institutions,” Malcom said. “I never had a black faculty member within the science departments, so I know how difficult it is to become something you’ve never seen and to think about the fact that it’s possible. I think that’s what has spurred my entire career, whether it was as a faculty member or whether it was as a person at the association working on programs to try to bring more diverse populations into science.”
Malcom co-authored the landmark report, “The Double Bind: The Price of Being a Minority Woman in Science,” in 1976. The report brought awareness to the barriers of being an African-American woman in science. Throughout her career, Malcom has worked to increase access to education and careers in sciences for girls and women.
“Honoring Penn State pioneers and innovators have long been a part of our institutional identity,” said Penn State President Eric J. Barron. “In that spirit, I’m very pleased that the ‘329 Building’ will now be known as the ‘Shirley M. Malcom Building.’ As a noted scientist, a former presidential appointee, and a leading advocate for representation in the sciences for women and girls of color, Dr. Malcom is an inspiration to those who follow in her footsteps.”
Vice President for Outreach Tracey D. Huston noted that “For more than four decades, Dr. Malcom’s voice has amplified the importance of inclusion in fields where it has historically been underrepresented.”
In response to being honored at Penn State University Malcom said, “I was totally overcome,” she said. “I’m honored. To have been plucked out for that recognition — I am humbled, I really am, and I hope that I can be worthy of that.”
“It’s OK to use your science for a lot of different things. It’s OK to dream and to try to make those dreams real, and not to be limited by what other people think of you or expect of you. You’ve got to have intentionality, you’ve got to be aware, and you can’t be color blind. These young people are experiencing the campus in very different ways,” she said. “So not having women as members of startups and boards means a lot is being left behind, our science is not as good if you do not have diversity among those who are doing the science and the agenda-setting. It’s important to put it out there: We gain from this. We do better. It’s absolutely critical to shift that narrative.”
Currently, Malcom is the Senior Advisor to the CEO and Director of the SEA Change initiative at AAAS. She works to improve the quality and increase access to education and careers in STEM fields as well as to enhance public science literacy. Dr. Malcom is a trustee of Caltech and a regent of Morgan State University and a member of the SUNY Research Council. She is a former member of the National Science Board, the policymaking body of the National Science Foundation, and served on President Clinton’s Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology. Malcolm also holds 16 honorary degrees.
Malcom serves on the boards of the Heinz Endowments, Public Agenda, the National Math-Science Initiative and Digital Promise. Internationally, she is a leader in efforts to improve access of girls and women to education and careers in science and engineering and to increase the use of S&T to empower women and address problems they face in their daily lives, serving as co-chair of the Gender Advisory Board of the UN Commission on S&T for Development and Gender InSITE, a global campaign to deploy S&T to help improve the lives and status of girls and women. In 2003, Dr. Malcom received the Public Welfare Medal of the National Academy of Sciences, the highest award given by the Academy.
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