Creating an Inclusive Academy: Evelynn Hammonds Speaks at Smith April 14

Members of the Smith community will have a chance to hear this week from a leading expert on the intersection of race and science.

Evelynn Hammonds, Barbara Gutmann Rosenkrantz Professor of the History of Science and professor of African and African American studies at Harvard University, will visit Smith on Thursday, April 14, to share her scholarship on the history of race in the sciences and her thoughts on creating a more inclusive academy.

In examining the role of race in medicine and science, Hammonds’ scholarship draws on sociology, healthcare, genetics, anthropology, and African and African American studies—among other fields.

A former dean at Harvard, Hammonds also taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where she was founding director of MIT’s Center for the Study of Diversity in Science, Technology and Medicine.

Hammonds talk at Smith, “Being Color Brave Not Color Blind: Creating an Inclusive Academy in the 21^st Century,” will be held Thursday, April 14, at 4:30 p.m. in McConnell 103.

Laura Katz, Elsie Damon Simonds Professor of Biological Sciences and co-chair of Smith’s Science Center Committee on Diversity, said Hammonds’ visit offers a rare opportunity “to learn from someone who has experience in creating a more inclusive academic environment.”

Katz noted that Smith has made strides in recent years in promoting diversity and building a sense of community in STEM through programs such as AEMES (Achieving Excellence in Mathematics, Engineering and Sciences) and the work of the Science Center Committee on Diversity.

“But we know there are still barriers left for many of our students,” Katz said. “We’ve invited Dr. Hammonds to talk with us about what it will take to address these very real issues.”

Hammonds, who grew up in Atlanta, earned bachelor’s degrees in two STEM fields—one in physics from Spelman College and the other in electrical engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology.

She also holds a master’s degree in physics from MIT—where she also taught for 10 years—and a Ph.D. in the history of science from Harvard.

The author of numerous research articles, Hammonds also co-edited The Nature of Difference: Sciences of Race in the United States from Jefferson to Genomics, a 2008 work that documents how conceptions of race in the sciences have changed over time. She is currently completing a history of how racial concepts are used in biology, medicine and anthropology.

Hammonds—who has served as a Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturer and a visiting scholar at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin—is a member of the National Science Foundation’s Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and Engineering. In 2010, she was named to President Barack Obama’s National Board of Advisers on Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Hammond’s visit to Smith is sponsored by the Science Center Committee on Diversity and the Offices of the President, Provost, and Inclusion, Diversity and Equity.