Enriching the Experience of Science (Biology Today‪)‬

Sometimes I have been very lucky in life, as when Cecily Selby arrived to teach at New York University in the mid 1980s, just when I needed her. I was in the doctoral program in science education and had decided to do my dissertation on the aesthetics of biology--even though there was no one in the department very interested in this topic. Then Cecily arrived, full of enthusiasm about everything scientific, and especially interested in the aesthetic. By the time I finished my Ph.D. in 1990, Cecily was retiring, so she was only a full-time faculty member at NYU for a few years, but they were just the years when I needed her. Dr. Selby comes to mind right now because she's celebrating her 80th birthday. Cecily continues to inspire me because she continues to be excited about science education. Last year, she published three articles in the field and has at least one more in the pipeline (Selby, 2006a, 2006b, 2006c). One article deals with an area in which she is an expert on several levels: the role of women in science (Selby, 2006a). Cecily received a Ph.D. in biophysics from MIT in 1950 so she has lived through, and been intimately involved in, the revolution that has taken place in women's role in science during the second half of the 20th century. In 1999 she chaired the New York Academy of Sciences Symposium on Women in Science and Engineering: Choices for Success. Her viewpoint is that scientific inquiry will be enriched and strengthened by increasing the diversity of participants in this inquiry. In other words, increasing the representation of women and other minorities in science is good not just for those involved, but for the scientific enterprise as well.