For over twenty years, the Center for Research on Women and Gender (CRWG) WISE program has focused on the status of women in the sciences and engineering at UIC:
• In 1991, CRWG sponsored a conference on access to careers in science for women, “Changing Women/Changing Science.” An important outcome of the conference was the creation of the WISENET listserv, a resource for information sharing and networking
• The Committee for Institutional Cooperation WISE Initiative was also launched bringing together advocates for women in science and engineering from across 15 campuses
• In 1997, UIC was awarded funding by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to examine pedagogy and curriculum reform in the sciences, “Professing Science by and for Women”
Stacie Geller, CRWG Director, meets President Obama in the Oval Office to accept the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring on behalf of the WISE program.
• In 1999, UIC hosted the “Young Women in Science and Technology” conference
• In 2001, UIC co-sponsored, “Balancing the Equation: Women and Girls in Science and Technology
• In 2003, WISE launched the WISEST initiative which focuses on increasing women faculty in STEM departments
• In 2006, NSF selected UIC to receive a $3.3 million NSF ADVANCE Award over a five-year period which currently funds WISEST.
• In 2011, WISE received the 2009 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring.