Candidate Selection
Our grassroots team put together candidates that represent the amazingly accomplished women of Johns Hopkins University. We started with the list outlined in our proposal to the DLC's diversity innovation grant on the JHU Idea Lab*, and added many more women we came across from our research, and from suggestions from people who were interested in the project.
Then came the hardest part. Since there were far too many deserving candidates to honor with our limited budget, we paired down the long list to 23 candidates balanced based on five factors:
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Scale of accomplishment
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Diversity across field of study
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Diversity across race and ethnicity
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Diversity across historical time periods from the 1800's to the present day
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Gender barriers each candidate overcame.
The resulting list of candidates was reviewed and approved by multiple entities in the JHU community, including the President's Office, the Diversity Leadership Council, the Sheridan Library, the Mattin Center, and the Office of Gender Equity.
The initial group of Women of Hopkins that we are celebrating include pioneers in astronomy, biology, business and finance, geology, government, literature, mathematics, medicine, music, performing arts, physics, and social initiatives. Represented amongst their races and ethnicities are three African American women, one Nigerian novelist, a Hispanic scientist, a Chinese musician, and an Indian cardiologist, along with several immigrants from european countries. Many of these candidates were the first to break major gender barriers in their respective fields, and one was even made to sit behind a screen while attending classes so as to not disturb the men.
We recognize that we did not include all of the incredible women affiliated with Johns Hopkins University. It is, in fact, impossible for any list of only 23 candidates to adequately represent the many thousands of accomplished Women of Hopkins who deserve celebration. To those we overlooked, we apologize. We hope that honoring these 23 women will generate a groundswell of support in the JHU community, enabling us to expand the project and celebrate more amazing Women of Hopkins.
*One of our invited honorees declined to be included in this project, due to her negative experiences at JHU, and disagreement with university affiliations related to the war in Iraq.
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