ACS Honors UH鈥檚 Longest-Serving Professor
Moy receives the award from Dr. Nancy Jackson, ACS President (left), and Dr. JoAnne
Stubbe, Novartis Professor of Chemistry at MIT (right).Chemistry Professor Mamie Moy is on a career-long mission to make science fun.
Throughout her 56 years at 葫芦影业, her determination to encourage students, especially young women, to pursue careers in the physical sciences has never diminished. Her dedication was recently recognized by the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world鈥檚 largest scientific society.
Moy received the ACS Award for Encouraging Women into Careers in the Chemical Sciences during the organization鈥檚 annual meeting. The award plaque singled out Moy 鈥渇or limitless passion and dedication for sharing the art of chemistry with teachers and students alike, for always striving to encourage women in the sciences, and for courage in promoting diversity.鈥�
The award, sponsored by the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, Inc., includes a $10,000 grant. Moy plans to use the money to hold a mini-conference for girls in grades K-12 and female undergraduates as well as graduate and postdoctoral fellows.
鈥淚鈥檓 always looking for better ways for students to learn about the physical sciences,鈥� Moy said.
Over the years, her passion for engaging students of all ages led to numerous innovative science outreach programs. She founded the SMART (Science & Mathematics Applied Resources for Teachers) Center to train pre-college math and science teachers. As a regional director of the Associated Chemistry Teachers of Texas, she is part of that organization鈥檚 efforts to improve the quality of chemical education and to help teachers accumulate an arsenal of creative and effective teaching activities.
Her ongoing involvement with the Robert Welch Foundation Summer Scholars program brings bright high school students to UH for a hands-on research experience. She also finds time to mentor local high school girls through a program sponsored by the Texas Executive Women.
Knowing that it is never too early to engage a student鈥檚 interest in science, Moy also looks for opportunities to impact elementary education.
鈥淜ids are like sponges. They have fun, they ask questions, and you let them find out the answers,鈥� Moy said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 all about inquiry and discovery.鈥�
One of the early programs she orchestrated, 鈥�3..2..1...Blastoff,鈥� brought 500 elementary students to UH. 鈥淚 focused on underserved communities that had little or no access to science as a whole,鈥� she said.
Among her lifetime of honors, Moy earned national recognition as part of the 2010 class of American Chemical Society fellows, one of the field鈥檚 highest distinctions. Moy and the 190 inductees from around the country were honored for their outstanding contributions to science and the chemistry profession. In 2008, she was honored for work as an advocate and trailblazer for women scientists and was named a 鈥淭exas Woman of Distinction鈥� by the American Association of University Women of Texas. She received the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) Distinguished Service to Science Education Award in 2003 at the NSTA national convention.
- Angie Shortt and Kathy Major, College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics